Presidential Election Judgment: INEC Failed Nigerians – Adegboruwa
A Senior Advocates of Nigeria, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegoruwa, SAN on Thursday said the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) failed the citizens of Nigeria over the presidential election judgment.
He noted that the Supreme Court held that failure by INEC to upload election results on iREV leads to a loss of public confidence in the electoral process.
“The Court, however, held that such failure will not lead to the nullification of election results. The judgment is sound in law and accords with the relevant statutes on the issue.”
According to the senior lawyer, what then is the penalty for the electoral umpire that failed Nigerians upon its own voluntary undertaking? Because INEC is still busy assuring Nigerians that future election results will be transmitted electronically.
“It is left for the National Assembly to amend the Electoral Act 2022 to give us transparent elections. We cannot continue in this fashion.
“Presently, INEC has continued to assure Nigerians that the off-cycle elections for Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi governorship elections will be conducted electronically and the results uploaded on the INEC iREV portal.
“The use of technology is to prevent manipulation of election results. I urge INEC to help Nigeria by keeping its guidelines and public statements and undertakings.
“So many public officers attended court to listen to the judgment, leading to loss of manpower.
“When a politician is appointed into a public office, he ceases to be partisan but becomes an officer of the federal republic.”
Adegboruwa further noted that public officers abandoning their official duties to attend court proceedings in which they play no official role should be discouraged.
“The National Assembly should set up a special committee to scrutinize the judgment of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court for the purpose of amending the Electoral Act 2022,” he noted.
