The Federal High Court in Abuja has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to keep voter registration open until June 30, 2022.
On Monday, June 20, 2022, Honourable Justice Mobolaji Olajuwon (Court 10) gave an order of interim injunction following the hearing of an argument on motion exparte by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP).
SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, announced the announcement in a press release.
SERAP and 185 concerned Nigerians filed the lawsuit against INEC earlier this month, asking the court to “declare unconstitutional, illegal, and incompatible with international standards the electoral body’s failure to extend the deadline for voter registration to allow eligible Nigerians to exercise their rights.”
In the suit, SERAP requested “an order restraining INEC, its agents, privies, assigns, or any other person(s) claiming through it from discontinuing the continuous voters’ registration exercise on June 30, 2022, or any other date pending the hearing and resolution of the motion on notice.”
The hearing on the Motion on Notice for Interlocutory Injunction has been scheduled for June 29, 2022.
The complaint was filed in response to INEC’s decision to extend the deadline for political parties to hold primaries by six days, from June 3 to June 9.
SERAP is asking the court to determine “whether the failure of INEC to extend the deadline for voter registration isn’t a violation of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999 [as amended], the Electoral Act, and international standards” in the suit number FHC/L/CS/1034/2022, which was filed in Lagos and transferred to Abuja.
The group is also seeking from the court for a mandamus judgment compelling INEC to extend voter registration by at least three months and take adequate measures to guarantee that eligible Nigerians may register to vote in the 2023 general elections.
