Just in: Supreme Court reserves judgments in 4 Rivers political dispute cases

The Supreme Court has reserved its judgments in four separate cases related to the ongoing political leadership disputes in Rivers State.

The Apex Court reserved judgments until a date that would be communicated to parties after taking arguments from lawyers involved in the cases.

Justice Musa Uwani Aba-Aji, who led a five-man panel of justices in hearing the cases, announced that the parties involved would be notified once the judgments are ready.

The first appeal, marked SC/CV/1174/2024, is between the Rivers State House of Assembly and others against the Rivers State Government and nine others.

The second appeal, SC/CV/1175/2024, pits the Rivers State House of Assembly and others against the Rivers State Governor and nine others.

In case no. SC/CV/1176/2024, the Rivers State House of Assembly and others going up against the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) and nine other defendants.

Also in case no. SC/CV/1177/2024, the Rivers State House of Assembly and others are suing the Accountant General of Rivers State and nine other defendants.

The judgments in question were delivered by the Federal High Court in Abuja, specifically prohibiting the release of monthly funds from the Federation Account to Rivers State, and blocking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from sharing voter registration data with the state government for local government elections, among others.

Persecondnews recalls that Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court in Abuja had ordered the stoppage of the release of allocations from the federal government to Rivers State until the governor presented the budget before the Martin Amaewhule-led House of Assembly members.

However, the Court of Appeal in Abuja upturned the the judgment on the grounds of grave injustice in the findings and decisions.

Similarly, the Court of Appeal, in another judgment, upturned the judgment of Justice Peter Lifu, also of the Federal High Court, Abuja, which had ruled against the conduct of the October 5, 2024, local government council election in Rivers on the grounds that due process of Rivers State laws on local government elections had not been followed.

During Monday’s proceedings, Mr. Joseph Bodunde Daudu (SAN) led the legal team supporting the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mr. Nyesom Wike, while Mr. Chris Uche (SAN) represented Gov. Siminalayi Fubara.