Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court in Abuja has stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from ending the voter registration exercise on June 30, 2022.
The interim injunction followed the hearing of an argument on motion exparte by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
The suit followed the decision by INEC to extend the deadline for the conduct of primaries by political parties by six days, from June 3 to June 9. But the commission failed to also extend the online pre-registration which ended May 30 2022 and the Continuous Voter Registration ending June 30, 2022.
The rights group and 185 Nigerians had filed the lawsuit against INEC asking the court to “declare unconstitutional, illegal, and incompatible with international standards the failure of the electoral body to extend the deadline for voter registration to allow eligible Nigerians to exercise their rights.”
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Justice Olajuwon adjourned the suit to 29th June, 2022, for the hearing of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction.
In the suit number FHC/L/CS/1034/2022 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Lagos, SERAP is asking the court to determine “whether the failure of INEC to extend the deadline for voter registration is not a violation of Nigerian Constitution, 1999 [as amended], the Electoral Act, and international standards.”
SERAP is asking the court for “a declaration that the failure of INEC to extend the deadline for voter registration is a violation of eligible Nigerians’ rights to participate freely in their own government, equality and equal protection.”
SERAP 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.”
In the suit, SERAP is arguing that: “Enforcing unrealistic voter registration deadline while extending the deadline for party primaries would deny and abridge the constitutional and international human rights of eligible voters.”
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