New ballot box invoke!

   
Ballot box in dispute which is no longer in use.    Ballot box presently in use

The attention of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been drawn to reports that a recent judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja has invalidated the 2011 General Elections and threatens the imminent Edo State Governorship Elections.

The judgment is in the suit by Bedding Holdings Limited over the patent on transparent ballot boxes used in the past by the Commission, which the Court issued on the 5^th of June, 2012.

The judgment asserts the right of patent by the Plaintiff, Bedding Holdings Limited, to plastic transparent ballot boxes with steel frames that was last used by INEC in the 2003 General elections. In effect, it has nothing to do with the ballot boxes presently in use which are made of clear PVC material with heavy duty thermoplastic base. These were the transparent ballot boxes used for the 2011 General Elections and all other elections conducted since then, including the impending Edo State Governorship Election.

The court also granted an order of perpetual injunction concerning “electronic collapsible transparent ballot boxes,” which the Commission is not using and has no intention of using in the Edo State Governorship Elections.

For avoidance of doubt, INEC no longer uses the ballot boxes in dispute, and so the judgement could not have affected the 2011 General Elections or, indeed, subsequent ones.

(Attached pictures show the ballot box presently in use, distinct from the ballot box in dispute which is no longer in use.)