The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been issued a 90-day ultimatum to submit his officials responsible for registering and issuing voters’ card to underaged.
The order was given by Justice Obiora Egwuatu of a Federal High Court in Abuja, who mandated the commission to hand over the perpetrators to the authorities.
In addition, the court ordered INEC to ensure that the names of all underaged across the polling units in the country us withdrawn and published on the electoral body’s website, while asking it to also publish names of eligible voters.
The plaintiff, Rev. Mike Agbon, in the originating summons marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/367/2023 filed on March 17 through his lawyer, Desmond Yamah, had sued INEC as the sole defendant.
In the suit, the plaintiff posed six questions for determination including “whether the defendant is constitutionally, legally and duty bound to conduct credible CVR in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, “Whether the constitution and its enabling statute bind the defendant, the Electoral Act, 2022, to act in strict compliance with the provisions of the constitution and its enabling act.
“Whether by virtue of Section 23 of the Electoral Act, 2022, it is illegal and unlawful for the defendant to have registered underaged i.e. infants and toddlers, during the CVR.
“Whether the admission by the defendant that it has a substantial number of the underaged, illegal and illegible voters published in its voters’ register, exonerates the defendant from any sanction within the ambit of the law for registering underaged as contained in Sections 12 & 23 of the Electoral Act, 2022,” among others.
Agbon, therefore, sought “a mandatory order, compelling and directing the defendant to forthwith within one month to identify, produce and hand its officials that are involved in the registration of the underaged in each polling unit across the federation over for investigation and prosecution by the appropriate law enforcement agency.”
The plaintiff alleged that upon perusal of the national register of voters displayed on INEC’s website between Nov. 12, 2022 and Nov. 25, 2022, he discovered that the commission registered underaged contrary to the provisions of the Electoral Act, (supra) which clearly described the qualification for registration.
The plaintiff backed his argument with compiled copies from the INEC website of the underage registered and marked it as “Exhibit A.”
He told the court that on Nov. 23, 2022, INEC’s Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, at a national stakeholders’ forum on elections organised by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room (NCSSR), assured Nigerians that based on the observations of Nigerians, the commission would dutifully clean up the register ahead of the elections.
Agbon said through his lawyer, he made a formal request for the commission to furnish him with the list and names of the underage and ineligible voters but it vehemently refused and ignored the said application.
However, despite being served with court processes and hearing notices in the matter, INEC was neither represented in court nor filed any defence.
Delivering the judgment on Nov. 28 in a certified true copy sighted on Monday by NAN, Justice Egwuatu held that the conditions for qualification to be registered as a voter was stipulated in Sections 77 (2), and 117 (2) of the Constitution and Section 12 of the Electoral Act.
According to him, the common features of these sections are that the voter must be a citizen of and residing in Nigeria and has attained the age of 18 years.
“As I have found earlier in this judgment, the voters registered by the defendant in Exhibit ‘A’ are underage, that is, they have not attained the age of 18 years.
“What this translates into is that the registration officers and an update officer of the defendant failed in their duties to carry out the registration of voters in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the Electoral Act,” he said.
Citing provisions of Section 120(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022, he said any officer who acted in breach of his or her official duty committed an offence and would be liable on conviction for a maximum fine of N500,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both.