Nigeria Decides 2023

Updated: Court Grants INEC Request To Reconfigure BVAS

Muhammed Abubakar, Reporting

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been granted the request to reconfigure the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) it used for the presidential election.

The request was granted by the Presidential Election Petition Court sitting at the Court of Appeal in Abuja, on Wednesday.

The court, in a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices, held that preventing the electoral umpire from reconfiguring the BVAS would adversely affect the Saturday March 11 Governorship and State Assembly elections.

It, therefore, dismissed objections by the Labour Party and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi, against the request.

According to the court, allowing the objections by Obi and his party, would amount to “tying the hands of the Respondent, INEC”.

The court held that the backup files on the server could not be lost and that restraining INEC will affect the forthcoming governorship elections.

Justice Joseph Ikyegh, who presided over the panel, chided the applicants for repeating their request to be allowed to scan and make copies of the electoral materials in INEC’s possession, stating that it amounted to an abuse of court process.

It noted that INEC had, in an affidavit filed before the court, assured that the accreditation data contained in the BVAS could not be tampered with or lost.

It further stated that neither Obi nor LP filed a counter affidavit to challenge the argument in INEC’s affidavit.

The court, however ordered INEC to allow the Applicants to inspect and carry out digital forensic examination of all the electoral materials used in the conduct of the elections, as well as to avail them the Certified True Copy of result of the physical inspection of the BVAS.

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