By Jide Ajani
There were strong indications,weekend, that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is yet to respond to the originating summons and a motion on notice seeking an order of the Federal High Court Abuja restraining INEC from creating the controversial 30,000 Polling Units. The Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, sought the order on behalf of Nigerians on the 13th of October 2014.
Instead, Professor Attahiru Jega, National Chairman, INEC, penultimate week, issued a directive to Resident Electoral Commissioners, RECs, on October 16, 2014, suggesting that implementation of the allocation was about to commence.
The memo, titled “Reconfiguration of Polling Units Structure And The Creation Of New Polling Units” was signed by one Musa Adamu. It directed the RECs to commence the implementation, and stated in part: “I have been directed to request you to submit your report on the reconfiguration of polling units structure and creation of polling units to the Commission on or before Thursday, October 30, 2014.”
Leader of Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, Dr. Frederick Fasheun, on behalf of UPN, dragged Professor Jega and the Commission before the Abuja division of the Federal High Court over the matter, arguing that the allocation gave the North 21,615 and the South 8,412.
Fasheun in the suit has asked the court to as a matter of urgency put a stop to the plan, declaring that the purported creation of additional 30,000 polling units in Nigeria by INEC was not only ultra vires, unconstitutional, mala fide, null, but void and has no effect whatsoever. He added that the allocation of what he termed, a mere 8,412 polling units out of 30,000 additional polling units, was discriminatory against the states in Southern Nigeria and has put the voters in that part of the country at a disadvantage.
The 30,000 additional polling units were distributed as follows: North West-7,906; North East- 5, 291; North Central-6,318; South East-1, 167; South West- 4, 160 and South-South-3,087.
In the suit filed on its behalf by a consortium of lawyers headed by Mrs. Nella Andem-Rabana, SAN, the plaintiff is asking the court for an order of perpetual injunction against INEC, its Chairman, Commissioners, officers, agents, privies from further creating any additional 30,000 polling units before the 2015.
The prayers before the court, among others, were that “unless restrained by an order of the court, the defendant will use the 30,000 additional polling units to provide additional voting facilities in the Northern part of the Nigeria during the 2015 general elections which would create opportunity for massive manipulation of the figures emanating from such polling units to the disadvantage and discrimination of the Southern part of Nigeria.
“That if the defendant is not restrained from implementing its plan to create and distribute additional 30,000 polling units the interest of the Southern electorate will be prejudiced irreparably and unjustifiably because the 2015 general election timetable and guidelines for political primaries has been released.”
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