A Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, has said that the National Assembly must amend the Electoral Act 2022 to ensure transparent elections in the country.
Adegboruwa said this in a statement in Lagos while reacting to the Supreme Court judgement on the presidential election appeals filed by Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi.
“The Supreme Court held that failure by INEC to upload election results on iREV leads to loss of public confidence in the electoral process.
“The court however held that such failure will not lead to the nullification of election results.
“The judgement is sound in law and accords with the relevant statues on the issue.
“What then is the penalty for the electoral umpire that failed Nigerians upon its own voluntary undertaking? Because INEC is still busy assuring Nigerians that future election results will be transmitted electronically.
“It is left for the National Assembly to amend the Electoral Act 2022 to give us transparent elections. We cannot continue in this fashion,” the senior lawyer said.
He stated that the National Assembly must examine the judgements of the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court to facilitate the amendment of the Electoral Act.
“The National Assembly should set up a special committee to scrutinise the judgment of the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court for the purpose of amending the Electoral Act 2022,” he said.
Adegboruwa urged INEC to stick to its guidelines rather than taking Nigerians for a ride.
“Presently, INEC has continued to assure Nigerians that the off-cycle elections for Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi governorship elections will be conducted electronically and the results uploaded on INEC iREV portal.
“The use of technology is to prevent manipulation of election results. I urge INEC to help Nigeria by keeping to its guidelines and public statements and undertakings,” he said.
Meanwhile, the senior lawyer frowned at the presence of many public officers at the apex court.
“So many public officers attended court to listen to the judgment, leading to loss of manpower.
“When a politician is appointed into a public office, he ceases to be partisan but becomes an officer of the federal republic.
“Public officers abandoning their official duties to attend court proceedings in which they play no official role should be discouraged,” Adegboruwa said.