INEC Has Monopoly To Determine Mode Of Results Transmission- Tribunal Declares

By Akeem Oduyoye

Presidential Election Petitions Court Tribunal led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, has stated that it is only the electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that has the monopoly to decide the mode of transmission of election results during the presidential election on February 25, 2023.

The court made this declaration on Wednesday, saying that according to Sections 52 and 65 of the Electoral Act 2022, INEC was at liberty to prescribe the manner in which election results were transmitted during the poll.

Based on this section of the Electoral Act, the court instantly thrown out the petition of the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi.

The petitioners had argued  that the victory of President Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) be annulled on the basis on the “failure” of the commission’s Results Viewing Portal (IReV) to upload election results electronically in real time.

The five-man panel of judges also dismissed Obi and LP’s petitions on 25 per cent votes of Tinubu in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), saying that Abuja is like other states.

The court also added the petitioners – Obi and the LP — failed to prove that Tinubu was convicted for money laundering in the United States.