The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has fixed January 30 to pass judgment on a suit asking for an order against the Independent National Electoral Commission, compelling it to either give registered voters their Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs or allow the use of their Temporary Voters Card or Voters Identification Number (VIN) during the 2023 general elections.
The suit against INEC was filed by the Incorporated Trustees Of the International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law,Barrister Emmanuel Chukwuka and Mr.Bruno Okeahialam.
The group claimed to file the suit on behalf of 29 million registered voters about to be disenfranchised in the 2023 General Election
The plaintiff’s lawyer, M.N Ozoaka, sought the following reliefs:
“A Declaration that all Persons who have duly registered with the INEC as voters and whose names are contained in the defendant’s register of voters and or electronic database of registered voters should not and cannot be deprived of the right and opportunity to vote in the forthcoming general election fixed for February to March 2023.
” An Order of the Honourable Court compelling the Defendant to release forthwith the Permanent Voters Cards of the Plaintiffs and all members of
their class to enable them vote in the forthcoming general election fixed for February to March 2023,
“Or as an alternative, an Order of the Honourable Court directing the Defendant to reprint, distribute and release the Permanent Voters’ Cards of the Plaintiffs and all Persons they represent in this suit or otherwise allow them to vote with their old (temporary) voters’ cards or registration slips already issued and released to them by the defendant, the affected persons having been duly registered and Captured in the Defendant’s register of voters and or electronic database of registered voters.”
Arguing before Justice Binta Nyako on Monday, Ozoaka, said that a newspaper publication ( of Monday, December 12) cited an INEC statement which acknowledged that insecurity and attacks on its offices gave rise to the loss of PVCs in several states.
“We are submitting that in a situation where PVCs are lost in the custody of the defendant, INEC cannot say that without PVCs, one cannot vote, ” he said, alleging that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, which is to be deployed at the polls, can still read the details of registered voters without PVCS since the VIN is captured on its database.
For INEC, its legal representative, Abdul Aziz Sabi SAN, told the court that the plaintiff’s claim that the last six digits ( of VIN) can be captured by BVAS is a mysterious suggestion, saying “My lord, the BVAS works with the card, without the PVCs, the BVAS cannot work.”
The judge then asked the INEC counsel if he worked directly with the Commission; and he answered in the affirmative, adding that the ICT department is in charge of printing PVCs through a company.
“The case of the plaintiff is based on speculation”, Sabi said, adding that INEC has extended the deadline for the collection of PVCs, wondering why the application was filed when PVC collection has not ended.
He also urged the court to dismiss the case because an NGO does not have the mandate of “interrogating innocent offices like INEC.”
Justice Nyako observed that there are a lot of complications in the PVC matter and that it’s not just INEC, “people that burn down INEC offices are also Nigerians.”
She stated that INEC ought to tell the world if it can reproduce the lost PVCs and also share the uncollected PVCs with Nigerians, although, she observed that the Commission has been telling Nigerians to go and get their PVC.
“On a very serious note, this is a very serious matter, some people in my household cannot and have not collected their PVCs.
“You are in touch with what happens in your office, you are not in touch with the reality on the ground.
“You are not telling us the reality so that we can make the necessary directives,” the judge told the INEC lawyer, querying if the information on the Temporary Voters Card can be read by BVAS.
The judge fixed the 30th of January for judgement.
