On Thursday, the Supreme Court ruled that the absence of election results on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal is not a valid reason to annul the February 2023 presidential election.
Justice Inyang Okoro, who led a five-panel of Supreme Court justices, delivered this judgment in response to the appeals filed by Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP) and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
They were challenging the decision of the Presidential Elections Petitions Court (PEPC), which upheld Bola Tinubu’s victory in the February election.
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Justice Okoro stated that those seeking to nullify an election must demonstrate that noncompliance significantly affected the election.
He pointed out that the appellants had failed to fulfill their obligation to prove noncompliance, relying solely on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) inability to electronically transmit the election results to the INEC Results Viewing (IReV) portal.
Justice Okoro emphasized that the Electoral Act grants INEC the authority to decide the method of transmitting election results.
He stated that the constitution should be interpreted broadly and with a focus on the people, avoiding a narrow and self-centered approach.
He added that legal interpretation should not lead to absurdity, and he dismissed the appellants’ argument. The decision of the PEPC is unavailable, Justice Okoro says.
“The interpretation of the constitution should serve the generality of the people Let me drive this matter home,” he said.
“Are saying that if a candidate scores majority votes across the country but fails to win the election in the Federal Capital Territory. Can’t the candidate be declared president?”
