Why the Appeal Court rejected Peter Obi’s permission to scan copies from INEC’s database

The Appeal Court on Wednesday refused to grant peter Obi, the Presidential candidate of the Labour Party permission to scan copies from INEC’s database citing that it prevents INEC from carrying out its electoral functions.

The?ruling was by?Joseph Ikyegh-led panel according to NAN and also coming after the court last week granted applicants the to inspect and carry out a digital forensic examination of all the electoral materials used in the elections.

The Court of Appeal in Abuja yesterday also granted the?president-elect, Bola Tinubu, access to inspect sensitive materials used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the February 25, 2023, presidential election.

Preventing functions:?The Justice Joseph Ikyegh-led panel said the refused request by Peter Obi to scan and make copies of the election materials from INEC ‘s database, report said:

• “The three-member panel held that granting the order sought by obi will hamper the elections slated for Saturday.
• “The Justice Joseph Ikyegh-led panel faulted Obi and the Labour Party (LP) for repeating their request to be allowed to scan and make copies of the electoral materials in INEC’s possession.
• “The court held that granting the order will amount to tying down the hands of the electoral body and preventing it from carrying out the functions assigned to it by the 1999 constitution.”

Last week, the court ordered INEC to allow the applicants to inspect and carry out a digital forensic examination of all the electoral materials used in the elections and to grant them access to the Certified True Copy, CTC, of the result of the physical inspection of the BVAS.

What you should know

INEC told the court that there were a total of 176,000 BVAS that were deployed to polling units during the presidential election, adding that each polling unit has its own particular BVAS machine which will need to be reconfigured for the forthcoming elections.

• “It will be challenging for us, within the period, to reconfigure the 176, 000 BVAS. We have already stated in our affidavit that no information in the BVAS will be lost.
• “We need the BVAS reconfigured, granting this application will be a cog in the process and may delay the conduct of the elections.”

The Court of Appeal in Abuja,?granted the?president-elect, Bola Tinubu, access to inspect sensitive materials used by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the February 25, 2023,?presidential election.

In a unanimous decision by a 3-member panel led by Justice Joseph Ikyegh, the court said it was satisfied there was merit in Tinubu’s request to have access to the electoral materials to enable him to defend his election victory.

It held that both Tinubu and his party, the APC, are entitled to have access to the materials in INEC’s possession to enable them to inspect, scan and make photocopies of them