The Abia State division of the Federal High Court sitting in Umuahia has ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation, AGF, Abubakar Malami to delete Section 84 (12) of the amended Electoral Act without delay.
Section 84 (12) says: “No political appointee at any level shall be voting delegate or be voted for at the Convention or Congress of any political party for the purpose of the nomination of candidates for any election”.
Justice Evelyn Anyadike on Friday ordered Malami to delete the section of the Electoral Amendment Act “forthwith” because it’s unconstitutional.
In her judgment, Justice Anyadike held that the section was “unconstitutional, invalid, illegal, null, void and of no effect whatsoever and ought to be struck down as it cannot stand when it is in violation of the clear provisions of the Constitution.”
She ordered that the Attorney General of the Federation “forthwith delete the said Subsection 12 of Section 84 from the body of the Electoral Act, 2022”.
President Muhammadu Buhari recently signed the amended Electoral Act.
He appealed to the National Assembly to delete the provision claiming that it violated the Constitution and breached the rights of government appointees.
