The Federal High Court, sitting in Umuahia, on Friday, struck out the contentious Section 84(12) of the newly-ammended Electoral Act.
The section had barred public office holders from participating in activities leading to selection of their respective party’s candidates for elections unless they resigned from their appointments before then.
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However, presiding judge, Justice Evelyn Anyadike, held that the section was unconstitutional, invalid, illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever and ought to be struck out as it is in violates the clear provisions of the Constitution.
It would be recalled that President Muhammadu Buhari had while signing the amended Electoral Act urged the National Assembly to delete the provision as it violated Constitution and breached the rights of government appointees. The President further wrote a letter to both Chambers of the National Assembly seeking amendment by way of deleting the provision an amendment the Senate rejected in plenary.
Justice Anyadike in the Suit marked FHC/UM/CS/26/2022 held that Sections 66(1)(f), 107(1)(f), 137(1)(f) and 182(1)(f) of the 1999 Constitution already stipulated that appointees of government seeking to contest elections were only to resign at least 30 days to the date of the election and that any other law that mandated such appointees to resign or leave office at any time before that was unconstitutional, invalid, illegal null and void to the extent of its inconsistency to the clear provisions of the Constitution.
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Consequently, Justice Anyadike ordered the Attorney General of the Federation to immediately delete the said Subsection 12 of Section 84 from the body of the Electoral Act, 2022.
Nduka Edede of the Action Alliance, AA, had gone to the court, asking for proper interpretation of Section 84(12) of the New Electoral Act.
His counsel, Emeka Ozoani, SAN, told newsmen that the judgment meant that Section 84(12) of the Electoral Act is no longer in existence or part of the Electoral Act.