The Presidential Election Petition Court has said that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was at liberty to transmit election results however it wanted, and not only electronically.
On the mode of transmission of election results, the tribunal said INEC is at liberty to define the mode it intends to use.
Recall that Peter Obi and the Labour Party in their petitions challenging the victory of Bola Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election argued that the electoral body, INEC failed to transmit election results from the polling units to the collation centres electronically.
However, the court on Wednesday said there was nowhere in law where INEC was only required to transmit results from polling units to rev by electronic means.
The court said the electoral agency is at liberty to decide how it would transmit election results, adding that the law empowers INEC to decide the means of collation of the results of elections in Nigeria.
It further held that there is no requirement for INEC to electronically transmit the results of the election.
“By the provision of Section 52 and Section 65 of the Electoral Act, INEC is at liberty to prescribe the manner in which result can be transmitted. INEC cannot be compelled to electronically transmit result,” the court held.
