Non-transmission of results on IReV didn’t affect outcome of election- S’Court rules

By Marvellous Gbadegesin On Oct 26, 2023

Atiku Abubakar, PDP, Bola Tinubu, IReV , Election Nullification, Supreme Court — A presiding officer counts records from the Ikorodu local government area during the collation of the presidential election results at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Yaba, in the suburbs of Lagos, in Nigeria, on February 26, 2023. (Photo by Benson Ibeabuchi / AFP)

The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that the non-availability of election results on the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) is no ground for the nullification of the February 2023 presidential election.

Justice Inyang Okoro, leader of the five-panel of Supreme Court justices, gave the ruling in the appeals filed by Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), challenging the Presidential Elections Petitions Court (PEPC) which upheld Bola Tinubu’s February win.

He said it is clear that the petition seeking to nullify the election for noncompliance must not only be ready to prove how the non-compliance affected the outcome election but must be ready to give evidence.

According to him, the petitioner abandoned the duties imposed on them to prove the gravity of noncompliance and its effect.

Justice Okoro said the Electoral Act empowers the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to determine the best method to use during an election.

He added that the unavailability of results on the IReV, cannot be a ground to nullify the the election.

Justice Okoro says the petitioner needed to lay credible evidence to prove the alleged noncompliance. According to him, he has not produced an original or certified true copy of the evidence they want the court to rely on.

He held that the non-availability of the presidential election results on the IReV Portal did not affect the outcome of the election