Just in: Supreme Court reserves judgement on appeal seeking to nullify Rivers LG poll

A five-member panel led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji of the Supreme Court has reserved its judgment on an appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress(APC), seeking to nullify the outcome of the local government elections held in Rivers State on October 5, 2024.

The panel reserved judgment in the case after all parties adopted their final written arguments.

The APC, represented by Mr. J. B. Daudu (SAN), petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the November 21, 2024 judgment of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal which upheld the election results.

In response, Mr. Yusuf Ali (SAN) and Chief Chris Uche (SAN), representing Gov. Siminalaye Fubara and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) respectively, countered the APC’s arguments and defended the election’s validity.

The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) had urged the court to dismiss the appeal.

Persecondnews recalls that an appellate court vacated the judgment that barred INEC from releasing the voter register to the RSIEC for the conduct of LG polls.

The Justice Onyekachi Otisi-led panel had faulted the Federal High Court in Abuja for barring security agencies from providing security during the elections.

The panel had, in a unanimous decision, held that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain a suit against the Rivers State LG elections.

Persecondnews recalls that Justice Peter Lifu of the High Court in Abuja had on the strength of a suit that was filed by the APC, stopped the conduct of the Rivers State LG election.

The trial court ruled that the RSIEC made a mistake by scheduling the local government elections in 23 areas without following the laws that govern such elections.

He noted that RSIEC failed to publish the 90-day mandatory notice before it scheduled the election.

Besides, he held that the update and revision of the voters register to be used for the election ought to have been concluded before any valid date could be fixed for the polls.

Justice Lifu ordered INEC to withhold the certified voters register from RSIEC until all relevant laws guiding the election were fully complied with.

He further prohibited RSIEC from accepting any voters register from INEC or using the same for the purpose of the LG polls.