Emmanuel OchayiThe Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPC) has ruled that the Independent National Commission (INEC) has the right to prescribe the mode of transmission of Election results.
The court’s decision, which upheld the INEC’s authority to determine the mode of transmitting election results, has sent ripples through the political landscape.
On February 25, 2023, INEC, according to the court’s ruling, exercised its freedom to prescribe the method of result transmission during the presidential election.
A five-man panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani delivered the verdict, citing Sections 52 and 65 of the Electoral Act 2022 as the basis for their decision.
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This development came as a blow to the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, who had filed a petition seeking the annulment of President Bola Tinubu’s victory under the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Their argument rested heavily on what they deemed the “failure” of INEC’s Results Viewing Portal (IReV) to upload election results electronically in real time.
In addition to the IReV issue, the LP and Obi’s petition also contested President Tinubu’s 25 percent votes in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). They claimed that Abuja should be treated differently from other states. However, the court categorically dismissed this argument, emphasizing that the FCT should be regarded as any other state in electoral matters.
Another contentious aspect of the petition was the allegation that President Tinubu had been convicted of money laundering in the United States. The court, in a clear and definitive statement, ruled that the LP and Obi failed to provide substantial evidence to support this claim.
Justice Tsammani’s panel maintained that there was no record of criminal arrest or conviction against President Tinubu presented by the petitioners.
The ramifications of this ruling are far-reaching. It not only reaffirms INEC’s role as the custodian of election procedures but also underlines the importance of substantial evidence in election petitions.
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