The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has petitioned the Court of Appeal in Abuja to overturn the Federal High Court’s decision to allow voters with Temporary Voter Cards (TVC) to vote in the Governorship and National Assembly elections scheduled for Saturday, March 18.
In the suit, the electoral board sought an injunction against the execution of the March 9 judgment, directing them to “enable the Respondents to use their Temporary Voter Cards in lieu of the Permanent Voter Cards for the 2023 general elections” pending the outcome of its appeal.
INEC argued in three grounds of appeal that the Federal High Court in Abuja erred in dismissing its position that the use of the TVC would amount to usurpation of the National Assembly’s authority under Item II of the concurrent legislative list.
It criticised the trial court for ruling that PVC was not stated in the Constitution or the Electoral Act as a need for voting or as the only way a voter may be vetted, accredited, and vote.
“A person is entitled to vote at an election conducted by the Commission if he or she shows a valid PVC at the polling unit in which he or she is registered as a voter,” INEC stated.
It further stated that by virtue of section 18(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, “the intendment of the lawmakers is obvious for the effect that a PVC is the only legitimate instrument for voter accreditation at polling unit with the usage of BVAS machine in elections”.
The electoral body added that the trial court’s decision, which embarked on judicial legislation and jettisoned the relevance and import of the said Manual & Guidelines, which prescribed in detail, accreditation and voting procedure with the exclusive use of PVCs, defeated the entire essence of the Manual & Guidelines.
In his decision, Judge Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court directed INEC to allow two disgruntled registered voters, Misters Kofoworola Olusegun and Wilson Allwell, to participate in the elections with their TVCs.
The plaintiffs had complained that despite their efforts and many visits to the INEC office, they were unable to receive their PVCs before the February 6 deadline set by the electoral body.
The trial court determined that the evidence presented proved that the plaintiffs were properly registered, with their information recorded in INEC’s database.
As a result, it issued an order requiring INEC to allow them to vote in the next elections using the TVC provided by the electoral body, which had been duly recorded in the National Registry of Voters’ database.
