JUDGE SETS HEARING DATE FOR LAWSUIT REGARDING SATURDAY ELECTIONS AND TESTS

Ugochukwu Uchenwa, a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, filed a lawsuit on Wednesday asking for the Federal High Court in Abuja to stop the country from holding elections and exams on Saturdays. The court set May 22 for the hearing.

When the case was brought before him, Justice James Omotosho set the date.

At the hearing on Wednesday, the court allowed President Muhammadu Buhari and the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) to formalize their counterclaims.

Following an application presented by Osasogie Uwaifo on behalf of Buhari and AGF, the first and second respondents in the lawsuit, the authorization was granted.

The court also approved the same requests made by Benjamin Amaefule, the plaintiff's attorney, and recognized their paperwork as properly filed and served.

As a citizen and a member of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Uchenwa had argued in his lawsuit that holding elections and exams on Saturdays violated his fundamental rights to freedom of worship. He had asked the court to rule that scheduling elections and exams on Saturdays is unconstitutional.

The plaintiff also requested that the court order the defendants to permit him and other churchgoers to cast ballots or take exams on any other day of the week, including Sundays.

Uchenwa President Muhammadu Buhari, the Attorney-General of the Federation, the Joint Admission and Matriculation Examinations (JAMB), the National Examination Council (NECO), the West African Examination Council (WAEC), and the National Business and Technical Examination Board are all named as defendants in the lawsuit.

The petitioner requests in the originating summons that the court rule that the Nigerian election schedule on Saturdays, the "Sabbath day" as observed by members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, is 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.

"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.

"It is also a violation of the right to freedom of education of the applicant and the members of the Seventh-day Adventist Church Nigeria."

The plaintiff requested a court injunction prohibiting INEC from continuing to organize elections on Saturdays in violation of the rights of Seventh-day Adventist Church members.

If the electoral umpire is unable to organize and hold the polls on a day other than Saturdays, the court should instead order INEC to mark out a different day for the members of the church to participate in their own election.

Additionally, he requests a court order prohibiting the 5th to 8th respondents from scheduling and holding mandatory public exams on Saturdays without giving Seventh-day Adventist Church members the choice to take their tests on days other than Saturdays.