- The Federal High Court siting in Abuja orders the deduction of over N17bn from the accounts of INEC - The court’s action is in respect of a suit filed by Beddings Holdings Ltd’s demanding the enforcement of an earlier judgement by former chief Judge of the court, Justice Ibrahim The Federal High Court siting in Abuja has ordered the freezing of the accounts of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over a N34bn contract ahead of the upcoming elections in Ekiti and Osun states. The court also ordered the deduction of over N17bn from the accounts of the electoral body in favour of Beddings Holdings Ltd (BHL).
The court’s action was in relation to a suit filed by Beddings Holdings demanding the enforcement of an earlier judgement by former chief Judge of the court, Justice Ibrahim Auta. The judgement delivered by Justice Auta on January 28, 2014, was in respect of a contract for supply of Direct Data Capture (DDC) machines, Electronic Collapsible Transparent Ballot Boxes (ECTBB) and Proof Address System/Scheme (PASS) worth N34.5 billion for the 2010 voters’ registration. The company had instituted a legal action challenging INEC’s decision to give the contract to three companies - Zinox Technologies, Avante International and Haier Electrical Appliances, on the grounds that the decision violated its patent right.
Beddings Holdings had asked the court to compel INEC to pay it half of the total contract sum amounting N17.2 billion as compensation for infringing on its valid and subsisting patent right. The court then ordered Attahiru Jega, the former INEC chairman, to pay the compensation to the patent holder.
But INEC challenged the judgement of the Federal High Court before the Court of Appeal in Abuja in 2014. The electoral body had insisted that BHL was not the sole patent owner of the election equipment. It argued that the company rushed and secured the patent right from the federal ministry of commerce within two weeks, even though the process takes months to accomplish. The case is still ongoing at the Appeal Court.