Court dismisses suit seeking to stop conduct of exams, polls on Saturdays

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, dismissed as frivolous, a suit that sought to stop the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from conducting elections on Saturdays.

The suit was brought before the court by a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Mr Ugochukwu Uchenwa.

Uchenwa, who is an elder of the church, equally prayed the court to stop the conduct of examinations on Saturdays.

According to the plaintiff, fixing elections and examinations on Saturdays violate his right and that of other members of the church, to freedom of worship.

 

He prayed the court to declare that fixing of elections and examinations on Saturdays was unconstitutional.

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

Cited as defendants in the suit were the President, the Attorney-General of the Federation, INEC and the Minister of Internal Affairs.

Others, were; the Joint Admission and Matriculation Examinations, JAMB, the  National Examination Council, NECO, West African Examination Council, WAEC, and the National Business and Technical Examination Board.

In his judgement on Wednesday, Justice James Omotosho held that the suit was frivolous, adding that the plaintiff failed to establish why any of the reliefs he sought from the court should be granted. 

According to the court, the plaintiff failed to establish any reasonable cause of action in the matter. 

Specifically, the plaintiff had in his originating summons, urged the court to declare that the scheduling of elections in Nigeria on Saturdays, the “sabbath day”, was a violation of his fundamental rights to freedom of worship.

"It is also a violation of  conscience, profession and free practice of faith and  right to participate freely in the government of the applicant and that of entire members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Nigeria", he argued. 

He wanted "a declaration that the actions of the 5th to 8th respondents fixing examinations on Saturdays, a “Sabbath day of the Lord ” is a violation of the fundamental rights of freedom of conscience, profession and free practice of faith of the members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Nigeria".

He maintained that fixing exams on "Sabbath day of the Lord ”, was equally a violation of right to freedom of education of the members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Nigeria.

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

Or in the alternative, to "order INEC to mark out a different day for the members of the church to participate  in their own election if the INEC cannot schedule and hold the elections on a day other than on Saturdays".

Among reliefs the court declined to grant to the plaintiff on Wednesday, included an order, "restraining the 5th to 8th respondents from scheduling and conducting compulsory public examinations on Saturdays, without making option for the members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church  to write their exams on days other than Saturdays."