Allow 2 Electorates Use Temporary Voters Card For Election – Court Orders INEC

Allow 2 Electorates Use Temporary Voters Card For Election – Court Orders INEC

Barely a week to the rescheduled governorship and State House of Assembly election, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, has ordered the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), to allow two electorates who has just the Temporary Voters Cards (TVC), to participate in the March 18, 2023 election.

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The court gave the order on Thursday, March 9, while ruling on a suit brought before it by two aggrieved registered voters; Kofoworola Olusegun and Wilson Allwell.

The duo plaintiffs in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/180/2023, argued that they were unable to obtain their Permanent Voter’s Card (PVCs), before the February 6, 2023 deadline after they repeatedly visited INEC office to get it without any luck.

The plaintiffs prayed the court to order INEC to allow registered voters that were unable to collect their PVCs before the expiration of the deadline, to vote in the elections, adding that many registered electorates would be disenfranchised without such court order.

Even though the suit, which was filed before the presidential election held on February 25, was accompanied with an affidavit of urgency, the court delivered its judgement on Thursday.

In his judgement, Justice Obiora Egwuatu held that evidence before the court established that the plaintiffs were duly registered with their details captured in INEC’s database.

Egwuatu in his ruling gave an order asking “the defendant (INEC), to allow the plaintiffs to vote using their Temporary Voter Cards issued by the defendant, the plaintiffs having been duly captured in the National Register of Voter’s database”.

And also; “A declaration that the plaintiffs, having fulfilled all necessary legal requirements to register and having consequently been captured in the defendant’s (INEC’s) central database and manual, printed paper based record or hard copy format of the defendant’s maintained Register of Voters, the plaintiffs are entitled to vote using their Temporary Voter Cards in the forthcoming 2023 General Election”.

According to the court, neither the 1999 Constitution, as amended, nor the Electoral Act 2022, emphasized that only PVC could be used for the elections rather, the law merely stipulated the use of a voter’s card.

Nevertheless, Justice Egwuatu declined the third prayer the plaintiffs sought, which was for every eligible voter with a TVC to be allowed to vote.

The court stressed that it could not grant the order since the case was not filed in representative capacity.

“This suit, having not been brought in a representative capacity, I find myself unable to grant any relief pursuant to prayer three of the plaintiffs application”, Justice Egwuatu held.