The Federal High Court in Abuja, on Thursday, yielded to an application mandating the Independent Electoral Commission to allow electorate with Temporary Voter Cards, TVCs, in the forthcoming governorship and state houses of assembly elections to exercise their franchise.
The suit originating from Kofoworola Olusegun and Wilson Allwell represented by their lawyer, Victor Opatola, against INEC’s position entreated the court to determine whether someone, who is in possession of TVCs with Voter’s Identification Number assigned to him by the electoral umpire and his name is in its database is qualified to vote without PVCs in the 2023 general election.
Ruling, Justice Obiora Egwuatu said such disenfranchisement has no place in both the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act.
Egwuatu declared that there is no portion in both that states that it is only PVCs that could be used, but that the law under Section 47 provided for a voter’s card.
“An order is made compelling the defendant 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,” he ruled.
