20101204
africanews

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is facing a fresh challenge in its preparation for next year's elections after a Federal High Court, Abuja, yesterday restrained it from awarding contract for the importation of the Direct Data Capturing (DDC) machines or any other equipment ancillary to, or associated with the process and application of the machines for the registration of voters.

The order will remain in force until the hearing and determination of a motion on notice filed by an indigenous company, Bedding Holdings Limited.

The company, in a suit filed against INEC; its chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega; the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke; and three companies - Haier Electrical Appliances Corporation Ltd, Zinox Technologies Ltd and Avante International Technology Incorporated- is claiming that it is the only company with the patent to produce Electronic Collapsible Transparent Ballox Boxes, ECTBB, as well as the patentee in respect of Proof of Address System/Scheme, PASS, used for the collation and collection of the names, age, sex, address, finger print, geographical description and location of various places in the country, including the bio-data of every person resident in Nigeria.

The plaintiffs, in a November 25 motion ex parte, accused INEC of infringing on its patent right by contracting three companies to produce voters register for the 2011 general elections without first seeking and obtaining a written licence, consent and authority from it.

It therefore wants the court to award it N10 billion as damages for alleged infringement committed by the defendants, and an order of interim injunction restraining INEC from going ahead with its planned voters registration exercise pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.

"Unless the Defendants are restrained by an order of interim injunction of this court pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit, the defendants will deprecate the subject matter of this suit, lis-pendis, to the detriment of the plaintiff and foist a fait-accompli on both the court and the plaintiff", it said, and argued that it would be in the interest of justice for the court to make the order to preserve the 'Res' of the action instituted before it.

Justice Ibrahim Auta, in granting the plaintiff's request equally fixed December 13, for the hearing of the substantive suit.

The restraining order reads, "that the Defendants/Respondents either by themselves, agents, privies, contractors, surrogates, or any other person or persons claiming through them, are restrained from continuing the process of considering proposals of tendering/bidding for, producing, procuring, supplying, acquiring, importing, buying, receiving, selling, leasing, alienating, applying or otherwise using the Direct Data Capturing Machines, Laptops and/or any other equipment ancillary to, or associated with the process and application of the said machines/equipment about to be supplied or being supplied by the 4th - 6th Defendants/ respondents to the 1st and 2nd Defendants/Respondents for the registration of voters and/or compilation, production and use of a Voters' Register for the 2011 general elections or any other elections whatsoever, pending the hearing and determination of the motion on Notice for interlocutory injunction filed before this court".

The commission recently awarded an N34.5billion contract for the procurement and supply of 132, 000 units of the DDC machines to Haier, Zinox and Avante.

While Zinox Technologies Ltd was contracted to provide 80, 000 units at $1, 771.73 per unit, Haier Electrical Appliances Corporation Ltd was awarded 30, 000 units at $1, 699.60 per unit and Avante International Technology Incorporated for the supply of 22, 000 units at 1, 699.60 per unit.