- Federal High Court orders INEC to transmit election results electronically using the BVAS machine and upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to the IReV Portal.
- The ruling came after a suit filed by the Labour Party and its governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom.
- The judge also directed INEC to engage independent logistic companies and enforce compliance with Section 27(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022.
An Abuja division of the Federal High Court has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit election results electronically on Saturday.
Justice Obiora Egwuatu has the order on Friday. The judge ordered INEC to use the BVAS machine to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to IReV Portal immediately after the completion of all the polling units’ voting and results procedures.
The judge also ordered INEC to transmit Saturday’s governorship and house of assembly’s election results in accordance with its regulations and guidelines.
The court ruling: While delivering judgement in the suit filed by the Labour Party (LP) and Uduakobong Udoh, its governorship candidate in Akwa Ibom, and others, the judge held that since INEC had submitted that it was aware of its responsibilities under the law and had not failed to carry them out, granting the applicants prayers would not do any harm to the commission.
- The judge noted that he was satisfied that the applicants had complied with the practice direction rules while filling out their applications.
- The judge ordered INEC to direct all its presiding officers to comply with Clauses 37 and 38 of its regulations and guidelines for the conduct of the election in Akwa Ibom.
- The judge directed INEC to enforce the observance and compliance of Section 27(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022 in the distribution of electoral materials during the conduct of the polls in the state
The backstory: The LP, Udoh and 13 state’s House of Assembly candidates had approached the court seeking an order of mandamus compelling INEC and all its agents to comply and enforce the provision of Clause 37 of the Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of the Saturday’s
They sought the following reliefs.
- They prayed the court mandate the presiding officers of all polling units to conspicuously paste the publication of result posters EC460(E) at the polling units after completing the EC8A result sheets.
- They sought an order of mandamus compelling INEC to mandate the presiding officers of all polling units in the state to electronically transmit or transfer the result of the polling units, direct to the collation system and use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) immediately after the completion of all the polling units voting and results procedures.
- They prayed for an order directing INEC to enforce the observance and compliance of Section 27(1) of the Electoral Act, 2022 in the distribution of electoral materials during the conduct of the polls by engaging the services of independent, competent, and reliable logistic companies who are non-partisans or known supporters of any political for the distribution of electoral materials and personnel, among other reliefs.