Justice James Kolawole Omotosho of Federal High Court sitting in Abuja has dismissed a lawsuit filed by a member of the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Nigeria, Ugochukwu Uchenwa, seeking the prohibition of the conduct of elections and examinations on Saturdays in Nigeria.
The court described the claim filed against the Nigerian Government as “frivolous, vexatious, bothersome, and unjustified.”
The church stated that Saturday is its Sabbath day of worship and that the conduct of elections and tests on Saturdays are a terrible violation of its members’ fundamental rights.
The plaintiff then requested that the Court prohibit the Federal Government of Nigeria from conducting future elections and examinations on the Sabbath in order to prevent disruption of their right to worship.
However, in his decision on Wednesday, Justice Omotoso ruled that the church’s fundamental rights were not at large and could not be limited by Government policies. Furthermore, the Judge ruled that the Seventh Day Adventist Church is a minority in Nigeria and cannot impose its ideology on the majority of other Christian faiths in the country.
This lawsuit was initiated due to the nature of the country’s electioneering system.
The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) is known to always fix Saturdays to hold elections in the country.