Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has the sole authority to determine how election results should be collated and transmitted.
The Labour Party(LP) had filed a lawsuit against INEC, claiming that the electoral body had no power to opt for a manual method of transmitting results.
Delivering his judgment on this case, Justice Nwite emphasized that only INEC can instruct the Polling Unit Presiding Officer on the transfer of election results, including the number of accredited voters and ballot results.
The judge also ruled that manual collation and transmission of election results during the 2023 general elections do not violate the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.
The LP, in their suit, requested that the court direct INEC comply with the electronic transmission of results as provided by the Electoral Act, 2022.
However, Justice Nwite dismissed the suit on January 23, 2023, stating that the plaintiff misunderstood the law.
The judge cited Section 60, subsection 5 of the Electoral Act, 2022, which outlines the transfer of election results from the polling unit, and Section 62(2), which mandates the creation and maintenance of a database for all polling unit results.
Justice Nwite noted that the law requires the electoral body to keep the register of election results in an electronic format at its national headquarters.
