Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Lagos has adjourned to March 8 the hearing of the suit filed by the Labour Party and 41 Others, seeking to apply for an order of Mandamus to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to directly and electronically upload from the polling units to the iReV, results of March 11, 2023, Governorship and State House of Assembly elections in Lagos State.
Justice Lifu adjourned the case following an application by counsel to INEC, asking the court for more time for her to file a response to the suit.
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When the matter was called yesterday, the lawyer told the court that the commission was served with a copy of the processes filed in the case by the applicants late on Monday, and that they are in the process of filing their counter-affidavit.
After listening to the lawyer, the judge, who pointed out the urgency of the matter, decided to stand down the case for two hours to enable the INEC lawyer to conclude the filing of her processes.
But when the court reconvened, she told the court that she was still filing and that the court should adjourn till Wednesday for the hearing and determination of the suit.
Following the development, Justice Lifu acceded to the request.
The judge had on Friday last week granted leave to the applicants to apply for the order of mandamus after listening to an application to that effect in suit no: FHC/L/CS/370/2023 filed by the Labour Party, its governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and 40 others.
Justice Lifu had held in his ruling that “leave is at this moment granted to the applicant to apply for an order of mandamus compelling the defendant and all its agents and their privies or any persons acting under their directions to comply with and enforce the provision of clause 38 of the regulations and guidelines for the conduct of the election 22, for the conduct of the governorship and House of Assembly elections in Lagos State on 11 March 2023.”
The applicants are asking the court for an order mandating the presiding officer of all polling units to transmit or transfer the result of the polling units electronically, direct to the collation system and use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to upload a scanned copy of the EC8A to INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV) immediately after the completion of all the Polling Units—voting and results procedures.
They are also seeking an order restraining INEC from engaging the services of individuals or companies who are members of any political party in the distribution of electoral materials.
The court granted the applicant’s request to abridge the time INEC may respond to its Originating Summons and adjourned the matter till March 7 for a hearing.
The applicants filed the suit in response to the controversies surrounding the conduct of last week’s presidential and National Assembly elections, following INEC’s failure to electronically transmit the actual results on its portal after votes were counted at various polling units.
They also had, before the Presidential and National Assembly elections, secured orders of the court to prevent INEC from engaging persons who are partisans from distributing election materials.
The trial judge in that case, Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke, had ordered INEC, its privies or any persons acting under its directions from contracting, partnering or appointing Lagos State Parks Management Committee, being controlled by MC Oluomo, or any of its members and drivers to distribute 2023 election materials and personnel in Lagos State.
Other applicants in the suit are African Democratic Congress and Boot Party and their governorship candidates, Mr Funsho Doherty and Wale Oluwo, respectively.
INEC was not represented in the proceedings and did not file a response to the suit.