FCT High Court Dismisses INEC’s Objection, Rules Voters Can Hold Commission Accountable Over 2023 Election Results
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), on Monday, dismissed the objection of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the suit seeking compensation for alleged harm caused by the commission’s publication of alleged false and altered results during the 2023 general election.
Justice Peter Kekemeke, who dismissed the Notice of Preliminary Objection filed by INEC, held that Nigerians including voters, who participated in an election “have a legal right to hold the defendant (INEC) accountable by insisting his vote must count.
“The judiciary can no longer sit back and watch helplessly under the guise of not rocking the boat,” adding that as society progresses, accountability must be demanded from government agencies.
The claimant, Dr. Ephraim Obinna Okoye, had shortly after the 2023 general election, sued the electoral umpire for uploading a different results on its Irev server, different from what was declared at his Finance Quarters Polling Unit in Wuye, Abuja.
According to the claimant, the action of the Commission caused him serious pain and trauma, having taken his time out to vote, waited for hours for votes to be counted, collated and entered into the BVAS machine at the polling unit, only for a different result to be found in INEC’s Irev server.
Among reliefs sought in the suit marked CV/2910/2023, included a declaration that in the conduct and transmission of results from the polling units, the defendant owed the claimant a duty of care to ensure the results transmitted were the actual results from the polling unit.
“A declaration that the results for Finance Quarters 1, Wuye eventually uploaded on INEC Server by the defendant as the result of Presidential Elections held on the 25/02/2023 are not the actual results from the said unit.
“An order of this Honourable Court directing the defendant to delete from the server the false results published for the claimant’s polling unit and a further order directing the defendant to publish the correct form EC8A for the Unit signed by Nkwuda Precious Chizoba dated 25/02/2023.”
Claimant further demanded the sum of N50 million as damages for “distress inflicted on him by reason of falsification of the results from his polling unit and another N100 million as damages for his man hour wasted by INEC on February 25, 2023.”
