Court Dismisses Suit To Stop Conduct Of Elections, Examinations On Saturdays

The Federal Government forbade holding elections or exams on Saturdays in Nigeria said Justice James Kolawole Omotoso (Federal High Court in Abuja).

The judge dismissed the Seventh Day Adventist Church of Nigeria’s lawsuit on Wednesday, citing it as frivolous and without merit.

The church had maintained that Saturdays are its Sabbath day of worship and that holding elections and exams on Saturdays violates the members’ fundamental rights.

Subsequently, the plaintiff requested a court order barring the Federal Government from holding elections or exams on the Sabbath day going forward.

However, Justice Omotoso ruled in a ruling that the church’s claimed fundamental rights were not unassailable and could be restricted by state action.

The judge further ruled that because the church is a minority in Nigeria, it is not allowed to force its beliefs on the vast majority of other religious groups there.

The Church’s legal representative declared that the ruling would be appealed.