A suit seeking to halt the February 25 and March 11 general elections over the exclusion of eligible Nigerians in diaspora has been struck out by Justice Inyang Ekwo of the federal high court today.
On behalf of Nigerians in the Diaspora, Mr Chikwe Nkemnacho and Mr Kenneth Azubuike Nkemnacho had filed the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/2119/2022, on October 31 2022, by their lawyer, Augustine Temfeh-Nkemnacho.
The plaintiffs sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, and President Muhammadu Buhari and the Federal Republic of Nigeria, who were 1st to 4th respondents, respectively.
They prayed the court to declare, irrespective of wherever they were domiciled worldwide in line with Sections 13, 14, 42 and 17 of 1999, that they were entitled to participate in the electoral process.
The plaintiffs sought the court to stop INEC from proceeding further with the 2023 electioneering process until the commission’s voter register and bio-database were updated to accommodate them as registered voters.
While delivering Judgment, Justice Ekwo said the suit lacked merit as no law guarantees the right of Nigerians in the diaspora to vote in any election; Justice Ekwo said there was no need to enforce a law where a right was not provided for in the constitution.
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The Judge also stated that for such a case to be resolved, those affected by the issue ought to engage the legislature so that a law is enacted because the court does not enact laws; thus, no matter how sympathetic or humanitarian the cause or situation is, the court cannot also expand the law to accommodate an issue before it.
He said, “It only interprets and expounds the laws, and it is the law as stated before in this judgement, that when interpreting the provisions of a statute, the court must not ascribe meanings to clear, plain and unambiguous provisions to make such provisions conform to the court’s view of their meanings or what they ought to be,”
Justice Ekwo stressed that provisions of Sections 77 (2) and 117 (2) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), “the right to vote is reserved for every citizen of Nigeria, who has attained the age of 18 years residing in Nigeria at the time of registration of voters for election to a legislative house, shall be entitled to be registered as a voter for that election.
“The right to vote for a president or governor is tied to the right to vote in an election of any legislative house, going by the provisions of Sections 132 (5) and 178 (5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended),” he said.
Justice Ekwo further said that though the applicants want the court to declare that Nigerians living abroad were entitled to participate in the polls, he said it was the phrase “residing in Nigeria” in the constitution’s provisions that had challenged and, indeed, removed the basis of their case. Justice Ekwo, consequently, struck out the case for lacking merit.