20101219
This Day

Abuja — Justice Ibrahim Auta of a Federal High Court in Abuja has vacated the order he issued restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission from going ahead with the award of contracts for the procurement of biometric machines and accessories for the voter registration exercise slated for next month.

In vacating the order, the judge cited the public interest and the need to give INEC an unfettered chance to carry out the exercise.

He vacated the order following applications by both INEC and the Attorney General of the Federation asking the court to discharge the order so that the commission would be able to carry on the exercise.

In his ruling, Justice Auta agreed with the electoral body and the Attorney General that the 2011 election was of the utmost national importance and held that what the court intended to protect had been implemented.

He however observed that Beddings Nigeria Limited had established with material exhibits that it owned the patent right over the subject matter of the suit and that the electoral body did not exhibit any evidence to show otherwise.

The applications to set aside the restraining order were filed and argued by Mr. A. B. Mahmud, SAN, and Dame Carol Ajie on behalf of INEC and the AGF respectively.

Both lawyers argued that the act of procuring the machines had since been completed before the court issued the order.

The voter registration exercise is scheduled for the second week of January 2011.

The lawyers contended that the restraining order issued against INEC was too broad, vague, uncertain, incomprehensible, and incapable of enforcement.

According to them, the award of the contract for the DDC machines was a completed act that no restraining order could reverse.

They told the judge that the order was intended to disrupt the voter registration exercise.

They contended that the restraining order was not hinged on any alleged legal right nor did it aim at protecting any right.Assuming the copyright of the plaintiff had been infringed upon, the lawyers told the judge that such right could be fully compensated for in monetary terms.

The counsel to Beddings Nigeria Limited that procured the restraining order, Mr. Asam Asam, SAN, opposed the application to discharge the order.

He argued that the essence of the order of the injunction was to protect an existing legal right of a person from unlawful invasion by another.

He accused the INEC of a calculated attempt to infringe on the legal rights of a Nigerian citizen and urged the court to allow the restraining order to remain.

He also called on the court to order the accelerated hearing of the substantive suit.

The hearing of the substantive case was subsequently adjourned to the 27th and 28th of December in line with the accelerated hearing ordered by the court.