The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been sued by a group of Nigerians operating under the auspices of Govindex Leadership, Empowerment and Development Foundation over the alleged criminal activity of its employees during the most recent Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The Group claimed that INEC broke the Electoral Act of 2022’s Sections 60(5) and 148 as well as Section 160 (I) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).
On behalf of Ikechukwu Ezechukwu, SAN & Co., Govindex’s solicitor, Ifeanyi Nrialike, filed the lawsuit before the Federal High Court of Abuja.
They are requesting that INEC officials who harmed the Presidential election’s integrity face criminal charges.
The group is demanding five reliefs. They include: a declaration that having regards to the provisions of the Section 160 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (As Amended), Sections 60(5) & 148 of the Electoral Act, 2022, paragraph (Clauses) 38 (i), (ii) & (iii) of the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for the Conduct of Elections, 2022, “the Defendant, through her presiding officers are mandatorily required to electronically transmit, transfer or upload the scanned copy of Form EC8A result of the polling units directly to the collation system as prescribed by the Commission.
“That is, the usage of Bimodial Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) or such other relevant technology to upload the result into the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) immediately, and in real-time after completion of the polling units voting and Results procedures before taking the results to the ward collation Centre from the polling units.”
The defendant received a further relief when it was declared that, taking into account the stipulations of Section 60(6) of the Electoral Act 2022, they were granted a particular consideration; which says the group: “is under obligation to compile names of the presiding officers, whether ad-hoc or permanent, who failed to upload or electronically transmit or transfer the Election results of the polling units directly to the collation system as prescribed by the Commission; that is, the BVAS or such other relevant technology and send the said list to office of Inspector-General of Police for investigation and prosecution.”
