Court nullifies INEC’s order of elections

The Nation

3 March 2011

Court nullifies INEC’s order of elections

A Federal High Court in Abuja yesterday nullified the National Assembly’s amendment of the 2010 Electoral Act, which put the presidential election before the governorship poll.

Delivering judgment in a suit filed by the Labour Party (LP), Justice Ibrahim Auta declared the amended Section 25 of the Act as ‘illegal, unconstitutional, null and void".

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In the time table earlier released by INEC, the Commission indicated that National Assembly polls will come first on January 15, followed by Presidential Election on January 22 and State Assemblies and Governors’ elections on January 29, 2011.

But the Labour Party asked the court to stop INEC from conducting the election in that sequence asking for an order that the Commission should organize the election to start from the State Assemblies and Governors, to be followed by the National Assembly elections and the Presidential election coming last.

The order of election in April is as follows: National Assembly: April 2, Presidential: April 9, and Governorship/State Houses of Assembly: April 16.