The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has requested the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal to modify the orders that gave Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Labour Party (LP) candidates Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi access to review materials used in the last presidential election. The commission filed a motion on notice on March 4, asking the court to amend the order that prohibited INEC from interfering with election materials. INEC claimed it needed to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the upcoming round of elections.
However, Abuja-based lawyer Elias Offor criticized the move, stating, “The court will be engendering injustice and that’s the position. They are actually giving vent to the disintegration of the country because such reason is not tenable in any way. They will tamper with already existing data.” The court granted Atiku and Obi access to review the election materials used by INEC for the controversial February 25 poll on March 3, following two separate ex parte applications filed by the two parties, who came second and third respectively in the election won by All Progressives Congress (APC) leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Another attorney, Douglas Ogbankwa, called for more clarity on INEC’s variation request, stating, “The variation sought seems clouded in mystery.” Lagos lawyer Festus Ogun argued that the court is functus officio and INEC cannot seek to vary its order unless it can prove fraud or misrepresentation, which is not the case in this instance.
Kano-based lawyer Abubakar Sani emphasized that everyone has the right to access the court and questioned whether the inspection sought by the petitioners would affect INEC’s ability to conduct the governorship election on Saturday. He added, “If they need the equipment to conduct the election, you cannot deny them the right. INEC can comply with the order after the election if the nature of the reconfiguration will not tamper with the evidence in the BVAS.”
