Some elders of the Seventh Day Adventist Church have dragged INEC, FG and the Attorney General of the Federation to court over Saturday voting.
According to Saharareporters, the applicants in the matter said conducting elections on Saturday amounts to the violation of their rights to worship and disenfranchisement of other members of their church.
In the suit, PHC/2836/2018, the applicants prayed the court to declare that holding elections on Saturday, the worship day for the denomination, is a violation of the Seventh Day Adventist Church members rights.
The suit read in part:
“A declaration that the applicants’ known day of worship being Saturday, they are entitled to their freedom of religion and worship on Saturdays unhindered or by any means, whatsoever, under the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).
“A declaration that the fixing/scheduling of the 2019 presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday, February 16, 2019, and the governorship and state Assembly elections/Federal Capital Territory (FCT) council elections on Saturday, March 2, by the first respondent, in concert with the second and third respondents, constitute a violation of the applicants’ fundamental rights to freedom of religion.”
