‘Nigerians Are Disenfranchised!’ – Mike Ozekhome Asks Court To Compel INEC To Extend Voter Registration Till November 27

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mike Ozekhome has sued the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, before the Federal High Court division in Abuja over its refusal to further extend the Continuous Voter Registration exercise beyond July 31, 2022.

Court documents obtained by THE WHISTLER on Saturday showed that Ozekhome and Abubakar Damisa Dani Esq are the plaintiffs while INEC is the sole defendant in the case.

In an affidavit of urgency deposed to by Sani, he contended that while INEC is constitutionally charged with the responsibility of conducting the registration of voters in respect of the forthcoming general elections on February 25, 2023, the Commission however stopped the exercise on July 31, 2020 thereby closing the window for him and other Nigerians to register and exercise their franchise.

According to him, he and millions of Nigerians are keenly interested in voting in the general election but cannot do so unless they are duly registered by INEC.

Ozekhome urged the court to determine whether having regard to the combined provisions of Section 9(6) and 10(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, which mandates INEC to continue registration of voters up to 90(ninety) days to the date of the election, the defendant can stop or terminate registration of eligible voters on 31st July, 2022 which is more than six months to the next general elections scheduled to commence on 25th February 2022.

Part of the reliefs he is seeking reads:

“A declaration that the stoppage of the Continuous Voter’s Registration by the defendant on the 31st of July amounts to disenfranchisement of citizens who have attained or will attain the age of 18 years before 28th day of November 2022 being 90 days to the date of the general elections scheduled to hold on 25th February 2023.

“A mandatory injunction compelling the defendant to forthwith, extend the Continuous Voter’s Registration till 27th day of November 2022 which is 90 days to the next general elections as provided by Sections 9(6),10(1) and 12(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022.”

Recall that despite widespread call for INEC to open its registration portal, the commission insists that “unfortunately, we have to bring this process to an end, because we cannot go on ad infinitum, our electoral process is constitutionally and legally circumscribed, and if we continue with this voters’ registration exercise, ad infinitum, it will do damage to our timeline and schedule of activities for the 2023 general elections.”