A non-political organisation, The Collective Movement, TCM, has proposed an amendment to the 2022 Electoral Act, saying the amendment requires the procedural and technological innovations introduced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to be backed by statutory enactment.

“Nigeria’s electoral jurisprudence, the Supreme Court, especially in JEGEDE V. INEC and WIKE V. PETERSIDE had declared that INEC is not legally required to transmit election results electronically.

“The Supreme Court, and the lower courts, have held that the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV), is an INEC innovation, is not a collation system and cannot constitute a part of the collation system.

“The courts have concluded that the IRev is only for viewing purposes, and nothing else. As a result, the Supreme Court had jettisoned the electronic transmission of results and the INEC election.

“Results Viewing (IRev) portal on the basis that the electronic transmission of results from the polling units to the IRev is not provided for in the Electoral Act 2022, and that it was only introduced by the commission in its regulations and guidelines,” High Chief Franklin Ekechukwu, Founder of TCM said in a statement on Tuesday.

He noted that this non-validation of the legality of the innovations introduced by INEC, through its regulations, guidelines and manuals issued according to the powers vested on the Commission, by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (As Amended), is at the core of a reform of the nation’s electoral system that will undoubtedly strengthen INEC as a public institution and restore public trust in the electoral process, thereby ensuring credible elections and ultimately, good governance in Nigeria.