Twenty-four Nigerians have filed a lawsuit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for failing to give them and other seven million Nigerians adequate time and opportunity to complete their voter registration after they have carried out their registration online.
INEC recently disclosed that out of 10,487,972 Nigerians who carried out their pre-registration online, only 3,444,378 completed the process at a physical centre. This represents just 32.8 percent of completed online registration.
But in the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1662/2022 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court, Abuja, the Plaintiffs are seeking an order of mandamus to direct and compel INEC to re-activate its continuous voter’s registration exercise to allow the Plaintiffs to complete their registration and collect their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).
The Plaintiffs are also seeking an order of mandamus to direct and compel INEC to provide adequate facilities and deploy personnel to the registration units of the Plaintiffs to enable them complete their registration and collect their PVCs.
The suit filed on behalf of the Plaintiffs by lawyers to Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), Kolawole Oluwadare and Ms Adelanke Aremo, read in part: Closing the gates on eligible Nigerians cannot preserve trust in the electoral process.”
According to INEC, the process that is outstanding for the applicants to complete the registration for their PVCs is to visit INEC designated centres for their biometric to be captured.
