Court Rules INEC Not Mandated To Transmit Polls Results Through Results Portal

An Appeal Court sitting in Lagos State, has ruled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has wide discretionary powers, to determine how to transmit or transfer the results of polls it conducted.

The appellate court made the declaration, while ruling in an appeal filed by the Lagos state All Progressive Congress (APC) and Social Democratic Party (SDP), against the ruling of a Federal High court in Lagos in March 2023, directing it to upload the results of the 2023 governorship and house of assembly polls, into the results viewing portal.

Justice Peter Lifu of the federal high court, issued the directive to INEC in his judgement, in the application filed by the Lagos state Labour Party and its governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Viviour to compel INEC to obey its electoral guidelines and the electoral act 2022 in transmitting the 2023 polls results.

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But the appeal court in its judgement last Friday, dismissed the ruling of the high court, recalling that another federal high court in Abuja, had earlier declared a similar suit filed by the Labour Party, as an abuse of court process.

The three members of the appeal court ruled that section 50, sub section two and 60, sub section five of the electoral act, gave widespread discretionary powers to INEC to determine the mode of transmitting polls results from the polling units to the collation centre.