Court rules that prisoners can vote

 

Justice Lima Mohammed of the Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State, has ruled that it is unconstitutional, illegal, irregular, unlawful, null and void and of no effect whatsoever to deny inmates the right to vote.

Ruling on a suit filed by five inmates Victor Emenuwe, Onome Inaye, Kabiru Abu, Osagie Iyekepolor and Modugu Odion (for and on behalf of inmates of Nigeria Prisons), Justice Lima said inmates in Nigeria have the right to vote in all elections conducted in the country directed the Defendants to ensure that the Applicants are not disenfranchised.

According to the ruling, "The Defendants do not have the constitutional right to deny the claimants their voting rights. That being an inmate is not an offence that impedes their registration and voting right under section 24 of the Electoral Act; and that? the exclusion of inmates in elections conducted in Nigeria is illegal, ultra vires and null and void."

Justice Lima also made an order of mandatory injunction restraining the 1st Defendant to update and include in the National register of voters names of citizens in the custody of 2nd Defendant and an order of mandatory injunction directing the 1st and 2nd Defendants, a body totally known to the Constitution, have the constitutional mandate, capacity or authority to include the Plaintiffs and make the environment comfortable for them to exercise their franchise."

Defendants in the suit are Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Controller-General of Nigeria Prisons Service.

In the suit, the Plaintiffs had sought for a determination on "whether having regards to the provisions of section 25 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999, as amended in 2011, and section 12 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010, the Plaintiffs are not entitled to be registered as voters by the 1st Defendants”.

The Plaintiffs also requested the Court to determine whether they (Plaintiffs) were not entitled to cast their votes at any election having regard to the provisions of Section 77 (2) ?of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and Section 12 (1) of the Electoral Act 2010.

They asked the court to determine whether the failure of the 1st Defendant to make registration and voting provisions for the inmates in the custody of the 2nd Defendant does not constitute an infringement on their rights as citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as enshrined in section 14 (1) (2) (a) (b), section 17 (2) (a), section 24 (b), (c), section 39 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Article 13 (1) and Article 20 (1) of the African Charter on Human and People's Rights.

Counsel to the Plaintiffs, Barrister Aigbokhan President, lauded the judgment and stated that erosion of inmates’ rights to vote creates dangerously fragile environment for overall human rights in the reign of 365 days of human right being the theme of human right in 2014. He asserted that "the judgment is a wedge on the slippery slope of creating second class citizens in Nigeria."

Source: WorldStage Newsonline