On September 6th, 2023, the Presidential Election Petition Court (PEPT) four-man Panel led by Justine Haruna Tsammani gave the final verdict on the case brought to the court by the Labour Party and Peter Obi. During the Judgement, Justice Tsammani on the issue of non-compliance with the Electoral Acts alongside INEC Regularities and Guidelines stated that it isn’t a must for the BVAS to electronically transmit polling unit results. Also, PEPT stated that “There isn’t any rule provided that there would be electronic transmission of election results, even in the Electoral Act 2022”.
Contrary to the PEPT verdict today, the INEC chairman had promised that BVAS would be used as a tool to “Snap election results documented on the result sheet from each polling unit and upload the photo of the result on the IREV Result (Result viewing Portal for anxious Nigerians to observe”. This contradicts the verdict given by the PEPT. To mention, The Electoral Act 38(1) states that the Presiding Officers shall “Electronically transmit or transfer the result of the polling Unit directly to the Collation system as prescribed by the Commission”.
It has appeared that the PEPT verdict contradicts and appears rather erroneous which has caused many concerned Nigerians to doubt the competence of the PEPT. For the records, the claim by the PEPT that there’s nothing in the Electoral Act or INEC regulation that provides for the Electronic transmission of results counters what the INEC Chairman promised the Nigerians. Also, the court recognizes clause 38 of the regulations and Guidelines which mandates Electronic transmission.
On March 17, The INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information Festus Okoye, stated during an Interview with Arise TV that the IREV will be used also in the Governorship election. Labour Party released a Press today rejecting the totality of the judgment as Nigerians await the next move from the Labour Party and Peter Obi.