The Presidential Election Petition Court has held that non transmission of results electronically is not a basis to challenge an election.
In its ongoing judgement on the petition filed by Peter Obi and the Labour Party, Justice Haruna Tsammani held that while INEC has the right to issue guidelines and manuals in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act, it is also at liberty to determine the procedure of how its election will be conducted.
Obi had argued that the election was riddled with non compliance with the rules which INEC set out in its guidelines, which includes E-transmission of results.
But according to Justice Tsammani, manuals and guidelines cannot supersede the express provisions of the Electoral Act and it is only a contravention of the Act that can be a basis of an election petition.
Justice Tsammani held that what the law provides for is physical collation of results and that transmission of results using the BVAS to IRev is simply to afford the public the opportunity to view the polling unit results on Election Day
Tsammani, who is also the Presiding Justice of the PEPC held that the petitioners had failed to prove acts of omission of the provisions of the Electoral Act which is the only pathway to supporting their claims of non compliance with the electoral act.
