The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will not be able to close voter registration on June 30, 2022, according to the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Following the hearing of an argument on motion exparte by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project, Honourable Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon (Court 10) gave an order of temporary injunction to INEC on Monday, June 20.
SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, revealed this, in a statement issued to the media.
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Early this month, SERAP and 185 concerned Nigerians filed a lawsuit against INEC, requesting that the court “declare the failure of the electoral body to extend the deadline for voter registration to allow eligible Nigerians to exercise their rights as unconstitutional, illegal, and incompatible with international standards.”
In the suit, SERAP had asked the court for “an order restraining INEC, its agents, privies, assigns, or any other person(s) claiming through it from discontinuing the continuous voters’ registration exercise from the June 30 2022 or any other date pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”
The suit is adjourned to June 29, 2022, for the hearing of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction.
The suit followed the decision by INEC to extend the deadline for the conduct of primaries by political parties by 6 days, from June 3 to June 9.
In the suit number FHC/L/CS/1034/2022 filed at the Federal High Court, Lagos, and transferred to Abuja, SERAP is seeking the court to determine “whether the failure of INEC to extend the deadline for voter registration isn’t a violation of Nigerian Constitution, 1999 [as amended], the Electoral Act, and international standards.”
The organization is also asking the court for “an order of mandamus to direct and compel INEC to extend voter registration by a minimum of three months and take effective measures to ensure that eligible Nigerians are able to register to exercise their right to vote in the 2023 general elections.”
