A Federal High Court in Lagos has ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to electronically transmit results during the state’s March 11 Governorship and House of Assembly elections. The court’s ruling is in response to a motion ex-parte filed by the Labour Party.
In the ruling on Friday, the presiding judge, Justice Peter Lifu, ordered INEC to use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to INEC’s Result Viewing portal (IReV). Furthermore, the judge mandated that the results be uploaded immediately after voting in all polling units. After voting in the state, the results sheet should also be pasted in each polling unit.
Judge Lifu issued a mandamus order that mandates INEC to enforce Section 27(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 in distributing election materials by hiring impartial, qualified, dependable logistic companies that are not partisan.
The ruling is a significant victory for the Labour Party and its governorship candidate, who had earlier expressed concerns about possible electoral malpractice in the forthcoming election. The court’s decision is expected to improve Lagos state’s electoral process’s transparency and credibility.
The electoral umpire has also been directed to ensure the BVAS is used in Lagos state’s March 11 elections. The BVAS is a technological innovation that allows for the real-time transmission of electoral data. It also includes the accreditation of voters and the results of the polls.
The court has fixed March 7 to hear the substantive matter.
