Section 74
Access to election documents(1) The Resident Electoral Commissioner in a state where an election is conducted shall, within 14 days after an application is made to him by any of the parties to an election petition, cause a certified true copy of such document to be issued to the said party.
(2) Any Resident Electoral Commissioner who willfully fails to comply with the provisions in subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of N2,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both.
This provision mandates Resident Electoral Commissioners in the States to produce or make available, certified true copies of election related documents to applicants who are parties to an election petition within 14 days of their application. The aim is to facilitate access to election documents for litigants.
PETER OBI & ANOR V. INEC & 2 ORS. (CA/PEPC/03/2023) @ page 263
On who to serve a letter of request for inspection
The Court of Appeal held as follows:
“A look at the letters in Exhibits PCQ1 - PCQ6 shows that they were all addressed to the Chairman of INEC instead
of the Resident Electoral Commissioners in the States as required of the Petitioners by Section 74(1) of the Electoral
Act, 2023. It is therefore clear that the Petitioners have failed to follow the clear legal
procedures of requesting for those documents.”
