The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has vowed to appeal a judgment that ordered it to allow Nigerians to vote with their temporary voter cards during the March 18, 2023 governorship and state assembly elections.
The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmim, said the commission was taking necessary steps to vacate the order as he confirmed that INEC had been served with the court order.
He said, “INEC has been served a copy of the judgment delivered Thursday by the Federal High Court, Abuja Division which ordered it to allow two plaintiffs to vote with their TVC.
“The Commission is taking immediate steps to appeal against the judgment of the trial court”.
Recall that Justice Obiora Egwuatu of a Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) to allow eligible voters with the Temporary Voter Cards (TVC) to participate in the March 18 governorship and state houses of assembly elections.
Two aggrieved Nigerians had filed a suit seeking the use of the Temporary Voter Card in the general election in the absence of the Permanent Voter Cards.
The plaintiffs, Kofoworola Olusegun and Wilson Allwell, in the suit filed on February 8 and marked FHC/ABJ/CS/180/2023, challenged the position of INEC and asked the court to determine
“whether a person whose name appears in the electronic format in INEC’s central database and manual, printed paper based record or hard copy format of the register of voters and has been assigned a Voter’s Identification Number can be said to be entitled to be accredited to vote with his/her TVC in the general election to be conducted by the defendant.”
Consequently, they prayed for the following reliefs should the questions be answered in their favour.
They asked for “a declaration that the plaintiff, having fulfilled all necessary legal requirements to register and having consequently been captured in its central database and manual, printed paper-based record or hard copy format of INEC’s maintained register of voters, the plaintiffs are entitled to vote using their TVC in the 2023 general election.”