By Abdulrazaq Abiodun
A civil right group Society for Advancement and Protection of Public Rights (SAPPR) has dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission (NEC) before a federal high court in Abuja seeking court order to compel the use of permanent and temporary voter cards for the 2015 general elections.
The body urged the court to order INEC to allow the use of the temporary voter cards issued legally to Nigerians in 2011 along with the permanent voter cards in order not to disenfranchise over 20 millions of Nigerians who are yet to access the permanent cards.
In the suit instituted by Mr Eze Anumnu, the rights group pleaded that the use of both cards will enable all eligible Nigerians to vote in the election and make the election credible, free and fair to the entire Nigerian and international community.
The group did not however call for postponement of the poll.
The suit no: FHC/ABJ/CS/06/15 filed by Mr Eze Anumnu is seeking an order of court to compel INEC to allow anyone with a voters card either temporary or permanent to vote as long as they were issued by the electoral body.
To do otherwise, the group argued, would amount to dis-enfranchising millions of Nigerians which the group argued could result into violence and breakdown of laws.
The group stated that there was no law that empowered INEC to insist on PVC as the only acceptable card for voting.
On the contrary, the group said that by refusing to allow people with temporary voter cards to vote, INEC is violating sections 77(2) and 117(2) of the Constitution.
Specifically, the group is seeking a declaration that by virtue of sections 77(2) and 117(2) of the Constitution, INEC has no power to deprive any Nigerian, who is eligible to vote the chance to vote on the grounds of non possession of a PVC.
It also asked the court to declare that any provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 or any INEC Electoral Guidelines, which prescribes the use of a card reader machine for screening voters card, which has the effect of preventing a registered voter to vote, is beyond the powers of INEC and therefore unconstitutional.
The court is also called upon to hold that the “Continuous Voters Registration being carried out by INEC now less than 60 days to the 2015 elections is unconstitutional, illegal, ineffectual and unlawful for being in direct contravention of Section 9(5) of the Electoral Act.
“That by virtue of Sections 9(5) and 10(4) of the Electoral Act, the current Voters Register to be used for the 2015 general elections is the Register existing, at least 60days to the commencement of the 2015 elections as notified by INEC pursuant to Section 30(1) of the Electoral Act.”
The group asked the court for a mandatory order directing INEC to permit every willing Nigerian, who has any voters’ card issued by INEC to vote at the 2015 general elections.
It sought an order of mandatory injunction restraining INEC from preventing every willing Nigerian who has any voters’ card to vote at the 2015 general elections.
It further asked the court to stop the commission from using any card reader or other programmable machines, which might have the effect of denying registered voters the right to exercise their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote.
A 38-paragraph affidavit deposed to by one Chijioke Kanu, a lawyer with the plaintiff stated that the PVC was ‘a monumental failure characterized nationwide by insurmountable structural challenges that even INEC has conceded to be beyond its power to remedy.’
Kanu further averted that “the new Register now being used has deleted names of millions of register voters in every state of the federation.
“What has now emerged, is that very grave errors have been made by INEC in the process which has rendered the entire voter registration fictitious, unconstitutional and undemocratic.”
He stated that INEC spent billions of naira to purchase PVC and Card Readers which it did not have the experience and expertise to operate.
“INEC has failed to consider the obvious but critical and serious issues confronting it and which will have adverse effects on such experiment.
These issues include power failure, the fact that the average Nigerian foyer is an illiterate, logistical challenges of ordering and deploying about 150,000 machines, technical failures and or computer glitches (as INEC is currently experiencing with the PVCs), manipulations by diverse interests within INEC, security challenges, lack of technical and managerial capacities, human and other delineate errors, among other myriad of problems,” he added.
He stated that the only beneficiary of the PVC exercise was INEC itself which it said had ‘continuously and recklessly expending tax payers money’ on a process that is lacking in transparency and efficiency.’
He warned that unless the entire process was reviewed, it might lead to a possible, though avoidable break down of law and order and the scuttling of the entire democratic process.
“It is clear that the agenda being pursued by INEC cannot lead to a free, fair, credible and peaceful 2015 elections as millions of Nigerians will be disenfranchised,’ he further averred.
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