Agbakoba SAN: INEC Holds Exclusive Power to Declare Results

• Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, stated that only the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) possesses the exclusive power to declare election results.
• He emphasized that existing laws provide political parties with all necessary tools to challenge INEC results.
• Agbakoba views parties seeking court orders to compel result release as an admission of their failure to monitor elections effectively.
• He cited the 1993 M.K.O. Abiola victory as a historical instance of a projected win without an official declaration.
• His advice to political parties is that if they cannot monitor elections, they should not participate in them.

Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, unequivocally stated that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) holds the sole and exclusive authority to declare election results in Nigeria.

Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, recently issued a strong admonition to political parties regarding their approach to election outcomes and the declaration of results. He unequivocally stated that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) holds the sole and exclusive authority to declare election results in Nigeria. This assertion forms the cornerstone of his critique against the prevailing practice among political entities.

Dr. Agbakoba highlighted that the existing legal framework is already robust, providing political parties with all the necessary instruments and avenues to effectively challenge any result announced by INEC. He suggested that the frequent recourse to the judiciary by parties, specifically to obtain court orders compelling the electoral body to release results, signifies a fundamental flaw in their operational strategy. This pattern, according to the Senior Advocate, amounts to an implicit admission of their own inability to adequately monitor the electoral process.

The legal landscape governing Nigerian elections firmly vests the power of result declaration in INEC, a principle Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN underscored in his recent remarks. This framework is designed to ensure that the electoral body, as an independent arbiter, maintains control over the official announcement of outcomes, thereby preventing premature or unauthorized declarations. The Nigerian election result declaration law is comprehensive, outlining the procedures and responsibilities of INEC in this critical phase of the electoral cycle.

Dr. Agbakoba's commentary serves to reinforce the established legal position that challenges to election results should follow prescribed legal channels, leveraging the evidence gathered through diligent election monitoring. He implicitly contrasts this with attempts to bypass or compel INEC's statutory functions through judicial means, which he views as misdirected. The emphasis is on the sufficiency of the current legal provisions for political parties election challenge Nigeria, rather than a perceived gap requiring judicial intervention for result declaration itself.

The implications of Dr. Agbakoba's stance are significant for political parties and the integrity of the electoral process. His assertion that seeking court orders to compel result release is a "confession" of inadequate election monitoring directly challenges parties to re-evaluate their strategies. This perspective suggests that a lack of robust, on-the-ground monitoring leaves parties vulnerable and without the necessary evidence to mount effective post-election challenges, forcing them into reactive legal maneuvers.

Dr. Olisa Agbakoba SAN election monitoring advice is clear: parties must invest in comprehensive oversight throughout the electoral cycle. He provided a historical example, referencing the 1993 presidential election where M.K.O. Abiola's victory was widely projected and accepted by the public, even in the absence of an official declaration. This historical context serves to illustrate that public perception and evidence, often gathered through monitoring, can hold significant weight. Ultimately, his pointed counsel to political parties was unambiguous: "If you can't monitor elections, don't go on the ballot." This statement underscores the fundamental responsibility of parties to ensure transparency and accountability through their own efforts.

Lawyers advising political parties should note the emphasis on robust election monitoring and the legal framework affirming INEC's exclusive power to declare results, informing strategies for challenging outcomes rather than seeking court orders to compel declarations.

Source: Original reporting via TheNigeriaLawyer