While the All Progressives Congress (APC) was contesting the Federal High Court of Lagos' decision ordering the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to electronically upload the results of the state house of assembly and governorship elections held on Saturday, another Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Commission to electronically transmit the results of the exercise in accordance with its rules and guidelines.
Judge Obiora Egwuatu issued the ruling on Friday in response to a lawsuit brought by the Labour Party, Uduakobong Udoh, the party's candidate for governor of Akwa Ibom, and 13 candidates for the state house of assembly in the March 18 elections.
The applicants had named INEC as the only defendant in the original summons, which was dated and sent on March 15 by their attorney, Moses Usoh-Abia.
The facts of the applicant's complaint can be summed up as follows: on February 25, 2023, while the presidential election was taking place, INEC and its officials failed to paste election results at voting stations and upload scanned election results on the IREV through the BVAS.
They claimed that the general election as a whole and the applicants in their specific wards and voting sites suffered significantly as a result of discrimination, uncertainty, and aggravation due to INEC's inactivity.
In addition, they claimed that if the Court did not grant the reliefs, the failure would occur again at the governorship and house of assembly elections on March 18, 2023.
They further argued that the initial lag in uploading Form EC8A on the portal (IReV) affected the entire country, not just Akwa Ibom State, and was caused by technical difficulties out of the Commission's control. These issues were later resolved, and all Form EC8As were uploaded on the portal. They said that the circumstances ensured there would be no result-rigging at the presidential election on February 25, 2023.
Source: Channels Television
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