More troubles were added to the baggage of the Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday when a Court ordered the electoral umpire to accept the use of the Temporary Voters Card for the purpose of accreditation and voting in the March 18, governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.

Very few knowledgeable Nigerians have questioned the powers of the courts to interpret the law. Although it depends from which part of the issue the judge is zeroing in on the contending issue, he must have looked at it from all the angles. But even when he erred, there are provision for appellate courts to take a second look at it.

The judgement of Justice. mandating the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow two plaintiffs use their Temporary Voter Cards came like a bolt from the blues and has foisted confusion among the electorate who are spreading false interpretations of the judgement.
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Attention was yet to subside on the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections when this judgement was given to further throw spanners in the works for the electoral umpire. INEC must be the most litigated agency of government given the multitude of cases being hauled at it daily.

Not many political pundits and the media paid attention to the matter until Justice Obiora Atuegwu Egwuatu in his eminence ordered INEC to allow Kofoworola Olusegun and Wilson Allwell use their TVC to vote in the March 18,2023 gubernatorial election.

Though the judge restricted the beneficiary of his judgement to only the two plaintiffs before him, arguing that it was not filed in a representative capacity. But some members of the public are spreading rumours that Court has ordered INEC to accept the use of the Temporary Voters Card for elections.

The condition attached to the judgement was not well circulated amongst the public who now thinks possession of a Temporary Voter Card (TVC) could make them exercise their franchise on election day.

But section 16(1) of the Electoral Act,2022 which deals with the Power to print or issue voters card states that: “The Commission shall design, cause to be printed and control the issuance of voters’ cards whose names appear in the register”.

Armed with a Permanent Voters’ Cards which must have been issued by the electoral umpire, Section 47(1) of the Act dealing with Accreditation of voters and voting states that :”A person intending to vote in an election shall present himself with his voter’s card to the Presiding Officer for accreditation at the polling unit in the constituency in which his name is registered.

The use of PVC was reinforced by the Regulations and Guidelines For The Conduct of Elections,2022 . It was more direct and specific. Section 5(111) (1V) states :”A person is eligible to vote in an election conducted by the commission if (111)His/ Her name appears in the register of voters” and (1V) He/ She presents a valid Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) at his/ her Polling Unit”.

Section 19 (b) of the Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Election 2022 states that: “The accreditation process shall comprise of: (1)” Checking the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) of the voter”; among other steps before voting. Also, the Assistant Presiding Officer( APO) 11 ,according to Section 19(e) (1) mandated to :”Request for the voter’ PVC”.

Reacting to the judgement on Thursday, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman said :”The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been served a copy of the judgement delivered today by the Federal High Court, Abuja Division which ordered it to allow 2 Plaintiffs to vote with their Temporary Voter’s Card (TVC).

The Commission, according to Mr Oyekanmi is taking immediate steps to appeal the judgement.

It is ,however, not certain whether the appellate courts would be able to determine this case before the governorship and House of Assembly election.

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja had on Thursday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission( INEC) to allow two electorates with Temporary Voter Cards ( TVC) to participate in the Governorship and National Assembly elections scheduled for March 18.

The court made the order, following a suit brought before it by two aggrieved registered voters, Kofoworola Olusegun and Wilson Allwell, who lamented that despite their effort and repeated visits to INEC office, they were unable to obtain their Permanent Voter’s Card, PVCs, before the February 6 deadline.

The plaintiffs in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/180/2023 had prayed the court to compel the electoral body, INEC, the sole defendant in the case to allow registered voters that were unable to collect their PVC before the expiration of the deadline for collection of PVC to vote in the elections.

According to the plaintiffs, unless the court intervenes, many duly registered electorates that could not obtain their PVC would be disenfranchised.

Justice Obiora Atuegwu Egwuatu in his judgement held that the evidence before the court established that the plaintiffs were duly registered with their details captured in INEC database, consequently, he ordered the defendant (INEC) to allow the plaintiffs to vote using the Temporary Voter Cards issued by the defendant to the plaintiffs having being duly registered and captured in INEC’s database.

“An order is made compelling the defendant (INEC) to allow the plaintiffs to vote using their Temporary Voter Cards issued by the defendant, the plaintiffs having been duly captured in the National Register of Voters database.

“A declaration that the plaintiffs, having fulfilled all necessary legal requirements to register and having consequently been captured in the defendant’s (INEC’s) central database and manual, printed paper based record or hard copy format of the defendant’s maintained Register of Voters, the plaintiffs are entitled to vote using their Temporary Voter Cards in the forthcoming 2023 General Election”.

According to the court, neither the 1999 Constitution, as amended, nor the Electoral Act 2022, emphasized that only PVC could be used for the elections. It held that the law merely stipulated the use of a voter’s card.

However, Justice Egwuatu declined the third prayer of the plaintiffs which sought that every eligible voter with a TVC be allowed to vote. The court stressed that it could not grant the order since the case was not filed in representative capacity.