Court casts doubt over planned local elections

A Nigerian federal high court ruling on Friday, that local elections scheduled for May should not go ahead without a review of the voters' register has cast doubt over the polls. Electoral officials said it was not possible to review the registers by June. Justice Okechukwu Okeke ruled in favour of 10 youths who filed a suit against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the grounds that they would be disenfranchised if the 18 May polls were held using the old voters' register of 1999. At the time, the youths said, they were not registered since none of them had attained the voting age of 18. But INEC Chairman, Abel Guobadia, said it would not be possible to revise the electoral register before June citing lack of funds. "Even if we got the money today, we shall be looking forward to the commencement of registration sometime in June," he told journalists. The polls to re-elect Nigeria's 774 local governments whose tenures end in May, were fixed after a supreme court ruling nullified moves by the National Assembly to extend their stay in office by one year. The decision also affirmed that Nigeria's 36 state governments have exclusive control over the local governments. Subsequently officials of the State Independent Electoral Commissions named 18 May as the date for fresh elections. They also resolved to use the old voters' register prepared for elections in 1999, saying INEC was not in a position to update it by 18 May. This decision prompted the court action by the youths. Though the ruling by Justice Okeke in the capital, Abuja, is subject to appeal, there are fears the court process may not be completed in time for the vote. Apart from being a key test of the resilience of Nigeria's new democracy after decades of military rule, the local elections afford new political parties an opportunity to participate in other polls due in the first quarter of 2003. Under Nigeria's 1999 constitution, new political parties must win a stipulated number of seats in local elections to qualify to contest subsequent polls. The emerging parties want the elections delayed to allow them time to prepare while the main established political parties would benefit from going ahead with the vote next month.