Briefly stated the Plaintiff's case is simply that the National Assembly enacted the Electoral Act 2001 (thereinafter referred to as the Act) to which the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria gave his assent. The Act is divided into seven (7) parts as follows-

The Federal Government claimed to have acted in the belief that all the provisions contained in the Act are on matters with respect to which the National Assembly is empowered to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the country. The Plaintiffs said that a very careful perusal of the provisions of the Act will reveal that they transgress the legislative competence of the Federal Government and make serious incursions into the legislative and executive functions of the States/Plaintiffs as contained in the 1999 Constitution. The Plaintiffs said the areas of these incursions by the Defendant are as reflected in the reliefs claimed in their Amended Statement of claim. The Plaintiffs stressed the point that the dispute or controversy herein did not depend on the existence or non-existence of the Act as an enactment of the National Assembly but rather as to the scope or limits of the legislative powers of the National Assembly itself.

On the other hand, the Defendant in its Statement of Defence has denied vigorously that any provisions of the Act contravenes the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and that the Act has not frozen or altered the powers specifically assigned to the Plaintiffs under the Constitution. In addition the Act does not contain any provision that threatens the continued existence of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.