Court Gives Verdict on INEC’s Electronic Transmission of Results

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been cleared in the case brought by the Labour Party. By ordering INEC to electronically upload the results of the governorship and state assembly elections from the polling places directly to the Results Viewing Portal (IReV), the Federal High Court was overruled by the Court of Appeal, Lagos division.
The law gave INEC very broad discretionary powers to choose how it transmits or transfers election results, according to a three-person panel made up of Justices Abubakar Umar, Olukayode Bada, and Onyekachi Otisi. The suit brought by the LP before the lower court was referred to in the judgement issued by the panel on July 19 and obtained by The Guardian on Monday, August 7, 2023, as an abuse of court procedure.
The court determined that INEC has “very wide discretionary powers” under Sections 50(2) and 60(5) to choose how to transmit or transfer election results, noting that this decision-making responsibility rests with the electoral body and that transmission of election results is not required. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) was served, but the Libertarian Party, its governorship candidate, and all other respondents failed to file any brief to join their grievances.
According to the appeals court, it found merit in the appeal and decided the case in the APC’s favour.