Primetweets
The Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that it is only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that has the legal authority to determine the method of collating and transmitting election results. Justice Emeka Nwite, in his judgment, stated that it is only INEC that has the power to direct how Polling Unit Presiding Officers should transfer election results, including the total number of accredited voters and ballot results.
Before dismissing the case, Justice Nwite declared that the collating and transmitting of election results manually in the 2023 general elections is in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022. This ruling was in response to a suit filed by the Labour Party (LP), with INEC as the only defendant. LP had requested that the court declare that INEC had no right to choose manual methods other than the electronic methods provided for in the Electoral Act, 2022. They also asked for an order to be issued to INEC to comply with the Electoral Act, 2022 on electronic transmission of results in the upcoming general election.
Justice Nwite explained that Sections 50(2), 60(5) and 62(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022 are the sections that need interpretation. He stated that Section 47(2) only deals with accreditation of voters using a Smart Card Reader, not collation or transmission of results as proposed by LP’s counsel. He then went on to explain that Section 60(5) of the Electoral Act, 2022 provides for the transfer of election results, including the total number of accredited voters from the polling unit. Additionally, Section 62(2) of the same Act provides for compilation, maintenance and continuous update of the register of election results as a distinct database for all polling units’ results as collated in all elections conducted by INEC.
Justice Nwite concluded that Section 50(2) of the Act allows for voting and transmission of results to be done in accordance with procedures determined by INEC. He also noted that Section 60(5) gives INEC the liberty to prescribe to Polling Units’ Presiding Officers the manner in which to collate and transfer election results as well as the number of accredited voters in an election under the Act. Therefore, he found that INEC is not mandated to only use electronic means in collating or transferring of election results.
INEC declared Bola Ahmed Tinubu as the winner of the February 25 presidential election, after he defeated Atiku Abubakar of the PDP and Peter Obi of the Labour Party. The Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled that it is only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that has the legal authority to determine the method of collating and transmitting election results. Justice Emeka Nwite declared that Sections 50(2), 60(5) and 62(2) of the Electoral Act, 2022 provide INEC with the power to prescribe how Polling Unit Presiding Officers should transfer election results, including the total number of accredited voters and ballot results. He further stated that INEC is not limited to using electronic means for collating or transmitting election results, and thus is at liberty to choose manual methods in the 2023 general elections. This ruling was in response to a suit filed by the Labour Party (LP), with INEC as the only defendant.
