On Wednesday, the Presidential Election Petitions Court issued a verdict stating that the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, were unable to prove that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) intentionally delayed the prompt uploading of polling unit results to its Results Viewing Portal (IReV) with the aim of manipulating the results in support of President Bola Tinubu from the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“The petitioner made the allegation of non-compliance a substantial part of their case. By the provisions of Section 135(2) of the Electoral Act, they are required to show how such non-compliance substantially affected them. If they fail to show the same, the petition fails.”
The petitioner further raised accusations of result suppression, overvoting, and vote inflation, contending that the elections were rendered invalid due to corrupt practises based on the comprehensive evidence provided.
In the cases of Rivers and Benue states, the petitioner claimed that INEC engaged in extensive misrepresentations during the collation process, uploading fictitious and inaccurate vote counts.
They argued that had the correct procedures been followed, they would have secured a significant victory in these states.
However, the Tribunal found that, aside from the figures reported in these two states, the other allegations lacked clarity and specificity.
Apart from stating material particulars, other crimes must be pleaded and clearly set out, the court ruled. “The proof must be beyond reasonable doubt. The petitioner must produce two sets of results, one genuine, one false.”