Judiciary
A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Anike Nwoga, has approached a Federal High Court sitting in Enugu to challenge the revision of the Independent National Electoral Commission 2019 election timetable by the National Assembly.
The timetable released and published by INEC had stated that the poll would commence with the election of the President and members of the National Assembly and followed by governorship and state assembly elections.
But the National Assembly revised the timetable, placing the National Assembly election first, to be followed by the governorship and state Houses of Assembly polls, while the presidential election will come last.
Nwoga, who is the zonal Vice-Chairman of the APC in the Enugu-East Senatorial District, in the suit dated March 2, 2018 and filed through his lawyer, Godwin Onwusi, is asking the Enugu court for an interlocutory injunction restraining the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria from assenting to the revised timetable as contained in a bill passed by the National Assembly.
In the motion on notice brought pursuant to orders 26 and 28 of the FHC (Civil Procedure) Rules 2009, the plaintiff prayed the court to restrain the President from assenting to the bill, whenever it is presented to him for assent, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
Besides asking the court to stop the President from assenting to the revised poll timetable, the plaintiff equally asked for an interlocutory injunction restraining the National Assembly from overriding the President’s veto, should he decide to veto the bill, when transmitted to him, pending the determination of the substantive suit.
In the same vein, the court was asked to restrain INEC from complying with the sequence of elections contained in the bill passed by the National Assembly.
The court was asked to determine whether the National Assembly, in exercise of its lawmaking powers, can make laws to compel INEC to exercise the powers to organise, undertake and supervise elections conferred on it by the constitution in a particular sequence.
Also to be determined by the court is whether the National Assembly, in exercise of its lawmaking powers, can make a law to change the sequence of elections, already adopted and published by INEC, pursuant to the powers conferred on it by the constitution, among others. – Punch
– Mar. 5, 2018 @ 9:53 GMT |
Tags: Poll timetable: APC chief drags N’Assembly to court
