A Federal high court in Lagos yesterday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to directly and 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 the Saturday’s Governorship and State House of Assembly elections in Lagos State.
Justice Lifu granted the order while delivering judgment on a suit filed by the Labour Party and 41 Others, in which they sought an Order of Mandamus to compel INEC to obey the Electoral Act and its guidelines for the conduct of the elections.
The judge held that the court processed the jurisdiction to entertain the suit because it was commenced in accordance with the provisions of the law.
Justice Lifu further held that the subject matter of the suit is not a pre-election issue because the reliefs sought by the applicants deal with the preparation of the elections and not the conduct of the elections.
He further stated that all the applicants are trying to do is to compel the electoral body to comply with the Constitution, its regulations and guidelines following its failure to do so during the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on February 25, 2023.
The court, therefore, granted the applicants an Order of Mandamus directing and compelling the defendant and all its agents and their privies or any persons acting under their directions to comply with and enforce the provision of clause 37 of the Regulations And Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, 2022, for the conduct of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Lagos State on 11 March 2023 to wit: Mandating the Presiding Officer of all Polling Units to paste the Publication of Result Poster EC60(E) at the Polling Units conspicuously after completing the EC8A result sheet.
The judge also granted an Order of Mandamus directing and compelling the defendant and all its agents and their privies or any persons acting under their directions to comply with and enforce the provision of clause 38 of the regulations and guidelines for the conduct of elections, 2022 for the conduct of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections in Lagos State on 11 March 2023 to wit: Mandating the Presiding Officer of all polling units to transmit or transfer the result of the Polling Units electronically, 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.
He further granted an order directing and compelling the Defendant 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 Governorship and House of Assembly election in Lagos State on 11 March 2023 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.
The Labour Party, its governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and 40 others had told the court that some Presiding Officers complained of wrong passwords as the reason for not being able to upload their BVAS information. In contrast, some complained the BVAS gave an “error” sign anytime they tried to upload.
INEC is the sole defendant in the suit marked FHC/L/CS/370/2023.
They also stated that “after seeing the pattern of the defendant on 25th and 26′ of February and through the period of collation of the presidential results in Abuja, the handwriting on the wall became clear that the defendant had colluded with APC in Lagos State to steal the mandate of the good people of Lagos State and to deprive the applicants their rightful victory at their various wards. Ifthe court does not grant this leave, the same vote manipulations would themselves on MarchMarch2023, during the governorship and House of Assemblies election in Lagos State.
“In the premises, the applicants have suffered damages due to the Defendant’s breach of Statutory Duty and will suffer more damages on 11 March 2023 except the Court grants this reliefs'” they claimed.
But the electoral body had challenged the jurisdiction of the Court to hear the matter, stating that Plaintiffs had failed to disclose any cause of action to warrant the exercise of the court’s discretion in their favour.
INEC had also argued that the suit is premature and speculative and that it will serve the interest of justice to strike out and or dismiss this action.
The Commission also stated, through its counsel, Mrs Jecinta Kelechi-Ukaonu, that it is a law-abiding organisation and that it is doing its best to fulfil all its obligations under the law.
Mrs. Kelechi-Ukaonu also told the court that the applicants had not demanded compliance with the laws and were refused before running to court.
She maintained that INEC has explained to Nigerians the issues that caused the glitches experienced on February 25 and that it has reassured all stakeholders that it is working hard to fix them.
