Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from ending the voter registration exercise on June 30, 2022.
INEC failed to extend the online pre-registration which ended May 30 2022 and is yet to extend the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) which ends on June 30, 2022, despite extending the deadline for the conduct of primaries by political parties by six days, from June 3 to June 9.
Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 185 concerned Nigerians had early this month filed a 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.”
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 30th June 2022 or any other date pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”
In the suit number FHC/L/CS/1034/2022 filed at the Federal High Court, Lagos, and transferred to Abuja, 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.”
The Court granted an order of interim injunction following the hearing of an argument on motion exparte by SERAP.
The suit is adjourned to June 29, 2022, for the hearing of the Motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction.
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