Lawyer, Group sue INEC over voting rights for IDPs

The Forum for Transparency and Integrity in Leadership and a lawyer Samuel Adeniji, has asked a Federal High Court sitting in Lagos to determine whether the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, can allow internally displaced persons, IDPs, to vote without complying with the law on voter registration.
They also prayed the court to declare that it would be unconstitutional and illegal for INEC to conduct elections in IDP camps in the Niger Republic and the Chad Republic or anywhere outside Nigeria.
They are further praying the court for an injunction restraining INEC from allowing any voting in an IDP camp outside Nigeria.

According to them, INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu had announced that IDPs in those countries “who left their abodes due to insurgency in the North East would not be denied their voting rights.”

The plaintiffs want the court to hold that IDPs can only vote when they comply with the provision of the Electoral Act by applying to the Resident Electoral Commissioner of the respective states in which the IDP camps are located.
They want the court to declare that it would be unconstitutional and illegal for INEC to carry out elections in IDP camps without first complying with the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2010 by compiling and maintaining as part of the national register of voters the names of all persons entitled to vote in each IDP camp.
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