Electoral Act Made No Provision For Electronic Transmission Of Results – Tribunal

Posted by Samson Kankan Featured, Latest News, News Across Nigeria Wednesday, September 6th, 2023

(AFRICAN EXAMINER) – The Presidential Election Petitions Court said the Electoral Act 2022 made no provision for electronic transmission of election results.

The five-man panel led by Justice Haruna Tsammani, on Wednesday, said the only technological device that was mandatory for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to use for the election is the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

Still on the issue of non-compliance with the Electoral Act and INEC Regulations and Guidelines, Justice Tsammani said there is nothing in the regulation to show that the BVAS must electronically transmit polling units results.

The Tribunal also held that the commission’s Results Viewing Portal (IReV) is not a collation system and the judgment in the case of Oyetola Vs INEC clearly supports this.

“There is no provision for the electronic transmission of election results in the Electoral Act 2022,” says Justice Tsammani. “It is at best optional.”

The tribunal also held that the petitioner failed to establish that INEC deliberately refused to promptly upload polling unit results to IReV in order to manipulate the results in favour of Tinubu. “The petitioner made the allegation of non-compliance a substantial part of their case. By the provisions of Section 135(2) of the Electoral Act, they are required to show how such noncompliance substantially affected them.” If they fail to show same, the petition fails.

 

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