COURT ORDERED INEC TO ELECTRONICALLY PASTE AND SEND SATURDAY'S ELECTION RESULTS

On Friday, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to electronically transmit the results of the gubernatorial and house of assembly elections held on Saturday in accordance with its norms and guidelines.

In a judgment, Judge Obiora Egwuatu further directed the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) immediately after all polling units voting and results procedures in Akwa Ibom were completed.

After finishing the EC8A result sheets in the state, the judge ordered the commission to prominently display the publication of its result posters EC60(E) at voting stations.

As the electoral umpire averred in its filed affidavit that it was aware of its responsibilities under the law and had not failed to carry them out, Egwuatu found that granting the applicants' prayers would not harm the commission but instead energise its performance.

He issued the ruling in response to a suit filed by the Labour Party (LP) and its Akwa Ibom governorship candidate, Uduakobong Udoh, as well as 13 state House of Assembly candidates for the March 18 elections.

According to MON DIARIES, the applicants sued INEC as the single defendant in the originating summons marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/ 334/2023, dated and submitted on March 15 by their lawyer, Moses Usoh-Abia.

The petitioners, who sought seven reliefs, asked the court for a mandamus order forcing INEC and all its agents to comply with and implement Clause 37 of the Rules and Guidelines for the Conduct of the Governorship and House of Assembly Elections on Saturday.