Federal High Court Throws Out Suit Against PVC

Justice Abdulkadir Abdul-Kafarati of a Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday struck out a suit filed by a group, Society for Advancement and Protection of Public Rights, seeking a court order to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from exclusively using the permanent voter cards (PVCs) for the conduct of the forthcoming general elections.

The court dismissed the the suit following an application filed by the plaintiff for the suit to be withdrawn.

Meanwhile, the plaintiff had since filed another suit before Justice Gabriel Kolawole, in which it is opposing the use of the card reader machine for the forthcoming polls scheduled to hold on March 28 and April 11, 2015.

Before yesterday’s development, the court had on February 22, 2015, granted the separate applications by the All Progressives Congress (APC), its presidential candidate, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Fiscal and Civil Rights Enlightenment Foundation‎ to be joined as defendants in the suit.

The suit with number FHC/ABJ/CS/06/2015 had the INEC and the attorney-general of the federation as the original defendants.

The plaintiff’s counsel, Mr Olatunji Salawu, said the withdrawn suit had been overtaken by events because the PVCs had been widely distributed.

Justice Kolawole had also on March 6, in the plaintiff’s fresh suit, granted the prayers of the PDP and the APC as defendants.

The plaintiff hinged its prayers on the ground that the use of the card readers was likely to lead to the disenfranchisement of eligible voters, arguing that since INEC had not engaged in trial application of the PVCs and card readers, the effectiveness of the machine could not be guaranteed. (Leadership)