INEC faults judgment permitting Temporary Voter Card for polls

On Thursday evening, the Independent National Electoral Commission declared that it would appeal the court’s decision allowing two Nigerians using Temporary Voters Cards to cast ballots in the governorship and House of Assembly elections on March 18, 2023.

This was confirmed to The PUNCH on Thursday by Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Spokesperson of INEC.

‘The Independent National Electoral Commission has been served a copy of the judgment delivered today by the Federal High Court, Abuja Division, which ordered it to let it to enable two plantiffs to vote with their Temporary Voter Cards,’ he added. The commission is moving right now to file an appeal against the trial court’s ruling.

According to the Newscrescent, the Federal High Court in Abuja directed INEC on Thursday to permit the use of temporary voter cards in the gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections that were postponed to March 18.

Kofoworola Olusegun and Wilson Allwell, two dissatisfied Nigerians, had petitioned Justice Obiora Egwuatu for permission to cast their votes with their TVCs because INEC had not yet given them their Permanent Voter Cards when the election was declared concluded.

The order, according to Judge Egwuatu, was granted because the claimants had been properly registered and included in the INEC database.

The court determined that there is no language in either the Election Act or the 1999 Constitution that restricts voting to just Permanent Voter Cards.

“An order is made requiring the defendant to permit the plaintiffs to cast their votes using the Temporary Voter Cards that the defendant issued, since the plaintiffs have been properly entered into the database of the National Register of Voters.

The judge stated, “This court declares that the plaintiffs are entitled to vote using their temporary voter cards in the upcoming general elections in 2023, having satisfied all necessary legal requirements to register and having subsequently been captured in the defendant’s central database and manual, printed paper-based record or hard copy format of the defendant’s maintained Register of Voters.

The judge, however, stated that he was unable to fulfill the plaintiffs’ final request, which was to extend the injunction to every qualified voter who was unable to convert their TVC to a PVC.

The judge stated, “I find myself unable to provide any relief pursuant to prayer three of the plaintiffs motion since this matter has not been brought in a representative position.

Mr. Victor Opatola, the plaintiffs’ attorney, told reporters that the decision was a victory for all Nigerians who had to struggle to register to vote, had done so legally, but had been unable to obtain their PVCs in time for the election for no fault of their own.

Opatola declared, “My clients should not be made to suffer because they had satisfied all legal criteria but were not given their PVCs until the PVC collection period had ended.

So, the court is stating that these two individuals, who have complied with all conditions, may vote using their TVCs. All Nigerians who met the criteria and received TVCs from INEC should likewise be subject to it under equitable law.

He argued that this ought to be the case since the only difference between the TVC’s and PVC’s contents was the type of plastic utilized for the PVC.

The verdict has been given, is binding on INEC, and is enforceable absent any appeal, according to The News Agency of Nigeria.

The 2023 presidential, governorship, and parliamentary elections would only be open to qualified voters who have PVCs, according to NAN’s reporting.