April polls: Court okays INECs election timetable

AN Abuja High Court, on Thursday, upheld the Independent National Electoral Commissions (INEC) timetable for the April general election, just as it dismissed the suit brought by the National Democratic Party (NDP) asking it to declare it null and void.The court held that NDP could not field candidate for the elections for failure to comply with the current election time-table released by the electoral body.The party had sued the commission, claiming that its current timetable which was issued after the earlier one had been dumped was misleading, adding that it used the first one to nominate its candidates for the polls.It subsequently asked the court to nullify the current timetable and order the commission to revert to its old timetable.Delivering judgment in the suit, Justice Mudashiru Oniyangi held that the second timetable of INEC was valid because both the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2010 (Amended) empowered the electoral body to set a timetable for the election.He held that the law did not specify the number of time INEC could adjust its timetable provided it comes before 90 days to the election.The court further held that the provision in the second timetable had nullified and rendered the first one invalid, the proviso reads thus, this time-table supersedes the earlier one issued by the commission.According to the trial judge, no valid legal action can be taken as far as the time-table is concerned, the first timetable ceased to exist since the existence of the second timetable came out, I therefore hold that the first timetable is no longer valid and does not subsist.He further added that the second timetable invalidates all the actions taken under the first time-table, the primaries conducted under the second timetable is to be recognised by the electoral body, the defendant is not entitled to publish any name of candidate under the first timetable since the constitution and Electoral Act do not limit INEC as how many times it can issue timetable. 
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