By TAIYE AGBAJE

A lawyer, Vincent Ottaokpukpu, has prayed the Federal High Court in Abuja to nullify the N1.5 billion fee charged by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to print copies of the national register of voters and list of polling units across the country.

Ottaokpukpu had, on Oct. 8, written a letter to INEC to apply for the production and certification of the national register of voters’ and list of polling units in all the electoral wards for the entire country.

The legal practitioner said he made the application under the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, 2011.

The commission, in its reply in a letter dated Oct. 13, approved the request but demanded the sum of N1,505,901,750 as production cost.

But Ottaokpukpu, in the originating summons marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/2228/2025 and filed by himself, dragged INEC to court as sole defendant.

The lawyer, in his eight reliefs, sought an order directing the electoral umpire to produce electronically certified copies of the documents requested unto external hard drives at a fair cost to be determined by the court and hand same over to him.

He sought an order directing the defendant to share the copies of the electronically certified copies of the national register of voters and list of polling units in all the electoral wards to his email: Ottaokpukpul2@gmail.com upon payment of a fair cost to be determined by the court.

Besides, he sought, “an order of this honourable court, quashing the assessment of costs of production and certification of the national register of voters and list of polling units in all the electoral wards contained in the defendant’s letter dated 13 October, 2025 and its press release of 16th October, 2025, as excessive, exploitative, null and void.”

He also prayed the court to declare the sum of over N1.5 billion for the production of 6,023,607 pages as outrageous and as a tacit denial of the information requested under the FOI Act, 2011.

The lawyer urged the court to declare that the provisions of the purported INEC guidelines for the processing and issuance of certified true copies (CTCs) fixing the cost of N250 per page for CTCs obtained from the defendant is arbitrary, exploitative, unfair, null and void, among other reliefs.

Ottaokpukpu, in the affidavit in support of the suit he deposed to, averred that he had represented several parties in election-related disputes both as petitioners or respondents in the course of his practice.

He said he was aware that INEC had regularised and set dates down for the next presidential and National Assembly elections to hold on Feb. 20, 2027, while the governorship and state houses of assembly election is to hold on March 6, 2027.

He said he was equally aware that some off-season elections were scheduled to hold in Anambra, Osun and Ekiti Stated before the general elections in 2027.

“That in preparation for the forthcoming election seasons therefore, I applied to the defendant for the production and certification of the National Register of Voters’ and list of polling units in all the Electoral Wards for the entire country.

“That in reaction to my letters, the defendant responded to my request via a letter dated 13 October, 2025.

“That in the said letter, the defendant approved the request but demanded a sum of One Billion, Five Hundred and Five Million, Nine Hundred and one Thousand, Seven Hundred and fifty naira (¥1,505,901,750) as the cost of production of the documents.

“That the defendant subsequently went unto the commission’s social media accounts to publish a press release purportedly clarifying the exorbitant cost contained in the letter of 13 October, 2025.

“That in the press release, the defendant admitted that the total number of pages to be printed by the plaintiffs request is Six million, Twenty-three thousand, Six Hundred and Seven (6,023,607) pages.

“That the defendant sought to justify the demand for the sum of N1,505,901,750 by its reliance on a purported INEC Guidelines for Processing and Issuance of Certified True Copies (CTCs) of Documents which Provides for N250 per page.

“That by virtue of my experience in duplicating court processes and other documents, I am aware that the cost of duplicating or production of duplicate copies in any part of Nigeria, especially in Abuja where the defendant is resident, does not exceed fifty (N50) naira per page.

“That I am also aware that in most cases, the volume of the document sought to be duplicated significantly drives down the cost of production to as low as thirty (N30) naira per page and even lower,” he said.

According to him, that I am aware that the defendant has the requested documents in soft and electronic forms.

The lawyer said he was ready to pay fair sums as may be assessed by the court for the provision of electronically certified copies of documents he demanded.

Ottaokpukpu, who said he had checked all physical and virtual platforms of INEC and could not find the purported INEC guidelines it claimed, alleged that the guideline was never gazetted by the defendant.

He argued that INEC is not statutory revenue generating body for either itself or the Federal Government.

“That the defendant’s budget for the 2025 financial year is to the tune of One Hundred and Twenty Six Billion naira, including overheads of purchase of computers, photocopying machines, printers and stationeries for the defendant’s headquarters, an increase from the Forty Billion naira allocated for 2024.”

The lawyer said except the court intervenes to compel the commission, he would be denied being availed with the requested documents by use of prohibitive costs.

According to him, the electronic copies of the documents will save the defendant’s time, human and material resources.

Ottaokpukpu said it would be in the interest of justice to grant all the reliefs he sought.

The case is yet to be assigned to a judge as at the time of the report. (NAN)

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