Few Hours To March 18 Elections, INEC Heads To Court (DETAILS)

Few Hours To March 18 Elections, INEC Heads To Court (DETAILS)

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has petitioned the Court of Appeal in Abuja to overturn the Federal High Court’s decision to allow electors with Temporary Voter Cards (TVC) to vote in the Governorship and National Assembly elections scheduled for Saturday, March 18.

In the suit, the electoral body sought “an order of injunction against execution of the March 9 judgment, directing them to allow the Respondents to use their Temporary Voter Cards in lieu of the Permanent Voter Cards for the 2023 general elections” pending the outcome of its appeal.

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INEC argued in three grounds of appeal that the Federal High Court in Abuja erred in dismissing its position that allowing use of the TVC would amount to usurpation of the National Assembly’s powers under Item II of the concurrent legislative list.

It faulted the trial court for ruling that PVC was not mentioned in the Constitution or the Electoral Act as a requirement for voting or as the only way a voter could be verified, accredited, and vote.

INEC said, “By combined provision of Section 47 (1) & (2) of the Electoral Act 2022 and Paragraph 5(IV) of INEC Regulations & Guidelines for the conduct of elections 2022, a person is eligible to vote at an election conducted by the Commission, if he or she presents a valid PVC at the polling unit in which he is registered as a voter.”

It further argued that by virtue of section 18(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, “the intendment of the lawmakers is clear for the effect that a PVC is the only valid instrument for voter accreditation at polling unit with the use of BVAS machine in elections”.

The electoral body added that the trial court’s decision, which embarked on judicial legislation and jettisoned the relevance and import of the said Manual & Guidelines, which prescribed in detail, accreditation and voting procedure with the exclusive use of PVCs, defeated the entire essence of the Manual & Guidelines.

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