LEGALITY OF INEC RESULT VIEWING PORTAL (IREV) AND ITS ENFORCEABILITY IN ELECTION PETITION

Abstract

The introduction of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Result Viewing Portal (IReV) marked a significant technological innovation in Nigeria’s electoral process aimed at enhancing transparency, accountability, and public confidence in elections. The portal was designed to enable the real-time upload and public viewing of polling unit results through the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), thereby reducing opportunities for electoral manipulation during collation. Despite its celebrated role in the 2023 general elections and subsequent off-cycle elections, considerable legal controversy has emerged regarding the juridical status, legality, evidentiary value, and enforceability of IReV in election petition proceedings. This paper critically examines the legality of the IReV portal within the framework of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Electoral Act 2026, INEC Regulations and Guidelines, and judicial authorities arising from post election litigation. The study interrogates whether IReV possesses statutory force or merely serves as an administrative and transparency mechanism without binding legal effect on the collation and declaration of election results. Particular attention is paid to the decisions of Nigerian courts, especially the rulings of the Presidential Election Petition Court and the Supreme Court in the 2023 presidential election petitions, where the courts held that the failure or non-upload of results to IReV does not automatically invalidate an election unless substantial non-compliance affecting the outcome is proved. The paper further evaluates the evidentiary status of electronically transmittep2d results and uploaded polling unit forms in election adjudication, analyzing the extent to which IReV data can be relied upon as documentary or electronic evidence under the Evidence Act 2011. It argues that while IReV has substantially improved electoral transparency and public access to election results, its enforceability remains constrained by the absence of explicit statutory provisions mandating electronic collation or transmission as a condition precedent for the validity of elections. The study concludes that although IReV constitutes a progressive electoral reform with immense democratic value, Nigerian electoral jurisprudence still prioritizes manually collated results and statutory forms over electronically uploaded records. The paper recommends comprehensive legislative amendments to expressly define the legal status, evidentiary weight, and enforceability of electronic result transmission and IReV generated records in election petitions. Such reforms, it is argued, are necessary to strengthen electoral integrity, minimize post-election disputes, and align Nigeria’s electoral system with global democratic best practices.