2023 Elections: Appeal Court gives verdict on electronic transmission of results

The Court of Appeal has overturned a ruling by the Federal High Court in Lagos, which had ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit election results in the state electronically.

The initial case was brought to the court in March by the Labour Party (LP), along with its governorship candidate in Lagos, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and 42 other House of Assembly candidates.

They sought a mandamus order compelling INEC to adhere to its regulations and guidelines, which included provisions for electronic result transmission.

Judge Peter Lifu of the Lagos Federal High Court granted the requested relief.

The judge further directed INEC to employ impartial and qualified logistic companies, free from partisan affiliations, for the distribution of election materials.

In response to the High Court's decision, the All Progressives Congress (APC) sought permission to appeal the ruling.

During the appeal process, the ruling party argued that INEC has discretionary powers to determine the mode of transmitting election results.

The APC, through its lawyers, also contended that the case should have been filed before the Federal High Court in Abuja, and criticised the lower court's refusal to allow the Social Democratic Party (SDP) to join the proceedings, asserting that the matter had significant implications for all registered political parties involved in the 2023 general election.

INEC and electronic transmission of results: Appeal court gives verdict On Friday, July 21, the Court of Appeal, led by Abubakar Umar, agreed with the APC's submissions, TheCable reported.

The court emphasised that INEC has wide discretionary powers under Section 50(2) and Section 60(5) to determine how it transmits or transfers election results.

“As I had demonstrated earlier in this judgment, the Electoral Act gives the 43rd respondent (INEC) discretion on how it carries out its assignment including how it transmits or transfers the result of election from polling units,” Umar said.

The judges highlighted that an order of mandamus could not be granted to restrict this discretion. The Court of Appeal acknowledged that the lower court had based its decision on Clauses 37 and 38 of INEC's Regulation and Guidelines. However, they pointed out that the Electoral Act allows the commission to amend or modify its regulations, thereby validating INEC's authority to change its approach to result transmission.

Additionally, the appellate court referred to a previous judgment, delivered in January by Emeka Nwite, a Federal High Court judge in Abuja (suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1454/2022), which affirmed INEC's liberty to choose the method of transmitting election results.

The Court of Appeal ruled that the present suit in Lagos (FHC/L/CS/370/2023) amounted to an abuse of the court process since the same issues had been litigated in the Abuja suit. Consequently, the court set aside the judgment of P.O. Lifu and dismissed the suit (FHC/L/CS/370/2023) in its entirety, ordering parties to bear their respective costs.