Court Fixes March 20 To Decide On Saturday Elections, Exams

The Federal High Court Abuja has fixed March 20 to deliver judgment in a suit filed by a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Ugochukwu Uchenwa seeking to stop the conduct of elections and examinations on Saturdays.

Uchenwa, filed the suit on the grounds that fixing elections and examinations on Saturdays violated his rights and that of other members of the church, to freedom of worship, urging the court to declare the action on Saturdays as unconstitutional.

In the alternative, the plaintiff, wants the court to order the defendants to allow him and other members of his church to vote or write examinations on any other days of the week including Sundays.

At Wednesday’s hearing, counsel for the plaintiff, Benjamin Amaefule told the court that his client was only seeking an enforcement of his fundamentals right to freedom of education and freedom to participate in elections.

He therefore prayed the court for an order restraining INEC from further violating the rights of members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church by holding elections on Saturdays.

In response , Maimuna Shiru counsel for the federal government prayed the court to dismiss the suit for lacking in merit, while counsel for WAEC, Friday Chorio argued that Nigeria is a circular state as it had not adopted any religion as its own.

Counsel For the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, (JAMB), Safinat Lamidi also aligned with WAEC.

The Minister of Internal Affairs, INEC, NECO, National Business and Technical Board, Council for Legal Education and the Ministry of Education were also joined in the suit but all absent in court as no counsel announced appearance on their behalf.

Justice James Omotosho having confirmed that they were duly notified of the hearing date proceeded to hear the matter and subsequently fixed March 20 for judgment.