INEC CHAIRMAN and Election: Can He Cast His Vote During Election?

by kamaldeen Abdulrasaq

Nigeria, as a democratic country, prioritizes voters’ rights; everyone has the right to vote and to be voted for. If such a person does not fall under the category of people who are legally disqualified—a person who is under the age of 18 years old, a non-citizen, a person of unsound mind, a dead person, a prisoner, an accused person on the death sentence, or someone convicted of treason or electoral fraud—they can’t vote in Nigeria.

Also, Section 22 of the Electoral Act (2022) [the law guiding elections in Nigeria] prohibits someone who engaged in the offense of illegally buying and selling a voter’s card from voting in the election.

Thus, any person who is in unlawful possession of a voter’s card, whether issued in the name of any voter or not, or sells or attempts to sell or offers to sell any voter’s card issued in the name of any voter or not, or buys or offers to buy any voter’s card, whether on his own behalf or on behalf of any other person, commits an offense and is liable on conviction to a fine not more than N500,000 or imprisonment not more than two years or both.

Therefore, it’s also constitutionally recognized under sections 66 and 107 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria; the category of people listed in the section therein are ineligible to vote.

To the main issue, I overheard from the people that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) chairman cannot vote in elections. Is this true? It’s a blatant lie.

Thus, the INEC Chairman is eligible to vote in the election as long as he is above 18 years old, as stated in section 77(2) of the 1999 CFRN, and does not fall under the ineligible categories stated in the sections above.

He is a qualified candidate to vote by the virtue of section 12 (1) of the Electoral Act (2022); it states thus:

1) A person shall be qualified to be registered as a voter if such a person—

(a) is a citizen of Nigeria;

(b) has attained the age of 18 years;

(c) is ordinarily resident, works in, and originates from the local Government, Area Council, or Ward covered by the registration center;

(d) presents himself to the registration officers of the Commission for registration as a voter; and

(e) is not subject to any legal incapacity to vote under any law, rule, or regulations in force in Nigeria.

The above section is applicable to all Nigerians and also applicable to the INEC chairman because he is a citizen of Nigeria. He has the constitutional right to vote, which no one can deprive him of.

Furthermore, he has the right to participate in the governance for the development of a country; voting in an election is part of contributing to the governance, as was stated in Section 14 (2) (c) of the 1999 CFRN.

The participation in the election shall be in accordance with the provision of the constitution.

The INEC chairman position or personality can’t be used to deter him from voting. The rationale of the people believing that the INEC chairman cannot vote is centered on the principle NEMO JUDEX IN CAUSA SUA (You can’t be a judge in your own case).

They concluded that if the INEC chairman votes, that means he has decided the election without announcing the result. He cannot decide the fate of the election until the election is concluded—he is just a supervisory body whose decision can be challenged by the court.

There are no specific landmark cases directly restricting the INEC chairman from voting, as well as no cases that have been decided and documented on the citizen’s right to vote.

The writer is a 400-L law student from Usmanu Danfodiyo University Sokoto. He can be reached through: 09072621530 or kamaldeenabdulrasaq@gmail.com