The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to directly and electronically upload the results of the March 11, 2023 governorship and State House of Assembly elections in Lagos State from the polling units to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
Justice Peter Lifu granted the order while delivering judgment in 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 possessed the jurisdiction to entertain the suit because it was commenced in accordance with the provisions of the law.
He also 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 noted that all the applicants were trying to do is to compel the electoral body to comply with the Constitution, its regulations, and guidelines which it failed to do during the presidential and National Assembly elections held on February 25, 2023.
Through their lawyer, Abbas Ibrahim, 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.
The applicants also stated that “after seeing the pattern of 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, INEC had colluded with the 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. They argued that if the court does not grant the leave, the same vote manipulations would occur on the 11th of March 2023, during the governorship and House of Assemblies election in Lagos State.
But INEC through its counsel, Mrs Jacinta Kelechi-Ukaonu, had challenged the jurisdiction of the Court to hear the matter, stating that the 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 the action
