Court orders Buhari, Lawan, Malami not to tamper with Electoral Act 2022

Ilesanmi AdekanbiMarch 7, 2022

1 minute read

The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court has stopped President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) Abubakar Malami and the Senate President Ahmad Lawan from tampering with the newly amended Electoral Act 2022.

The judge, Inyang Ekwo, in a ruling on an ex parte application by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), agreed that the act had become a valid law and could not be tampered with without following due process.

Mr Inyang held that the proper place to challenge the validity of any existing law was in a court of competent jurisdiction.

The PDP, through its counsel James Onoja, sued Mr Buhari along with the others challenging what it described as a bid to tinker with the newly amended Electoral Act.

Apart from Messrs Malami and Lawan, Speaker of the House of Representatives Femi Gbajabiamila, the clerk of National Assembly, Senate leader, house leader, and Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were defendants in the suit.

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Also joined as defendants in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/247/2022 were the deputy Senate president, deputy speaker, deputy Senate leader, and deputy house leader, House.

The party prayed the court for an order of interim injunction restraining the defendants from refusing to implement the signed Electoral Act.

PDP also applied for an order of the court stopping the National Assembly from giving effect to Mr Buhari’s request to remove Section 84 (12) from the Electoral Act or take any step to make the provision inoperative pending the resolution of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction.

Hearing of the matter was fixed for March 21.