The Supreme Court on Thursday, held that the failure of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to transmit election results on the IREV portal in real-time is not grounds for nullifying the election affect the outcome of the election, saying the IREV is not a results collation system.
Justice John Inyang Okoro-led seven-man panel held that non-transmission of the results could not warrant the nullification of the presidential election result.
Justice Okoro read the lead judgment in the appeal by the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar.
“It is my opinion that the failure to transmit results to the IREV did not affect the election result. This issue is resolved in favour of the respondents,” Justice Okoro held.
Justice Okoro further held that the issue of IREV can only arise where the hard copy of the results does not exist, adding that Atiku did not tender original or duplicate copies of results that show non-compliance.
Justice Okoro also dismissed the issue of the 25 per cent requirement for Abuja as a non-issue.