INEC Faults Judgment Permitting Temporary Voter Card For Polls

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has indicated its plan to appeal a court judgement granting the request of two plaintiffs to use their temporary voter cards.
The commission disclosed this in a tweet on Thursday.

“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 Plantiffs to vote with their Temporary Voter’s Card (TVC).

“The Commission is taking immediate steps to appeal against the judgement of the trial court.”

Earlier in the day, Justice Obiora Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja ordered the electoral commission to allow two voters to use Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs) in the March 18 governorship and state houses of assembly elections.

Justice Egwuatu gave the judgment in a suit filed by two aggrieved Nigerians seeking the use of TVCs in the general elections in the absence of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

The judge said that the order was made on the grounds that the plaintiffs were 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 Voter’s database.

“A declaration is made by this court 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,” the judge said.

The judge, however, said that he was unable to grant prayer three which was to allow every eligible voter with a TVC to vote because the suit was not filed in a representative capacity.