The Supreme Court has upheld an appeal that was brought before it by the All Progressives Congress and nullified the outcome of the local government election held in Rivers State on October 5, 2024.
The apex court delivered the judgment in a unanimous decision by a five-member panel led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji on Friday.
It vacated the November 21, 2024 judgement of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which validated the elections.
In its lead judgement that was delivered by Justice Jamilu Tukur, the Supreme Court held that there was no evidence to establish that the condition of precedents stipulated by section 150(3) of the Electoral Act, 2010, was met before the election was conducted by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commissioners, RSIEC.
The Supreme Court restored an earlier verdict of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which barred the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, from releasing voters’ register to the RSIEC for the conduct of the LG polls.
It will be recalled that a special panel of the Court of Appeal led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi held that the high court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain suit against the Rivers State LG elections.
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The appellate court equally faulted the trial court for barring security agencies from providing security during the elections.
According to the appellate court, section 28 of the Electoral Act does not cover elections conducted by states but only federal elections, governorship and Area Council Elections in the Federal Capital Territory.
It held that Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who had on the strength of a suit that was filed by the APC, stopped the conduct of the Rivers State LG elections, acted outside his jurisdiction.
Justice Lifu had based his judgement on the fact that the RSIEC erred by fixing date for the conduct of polls in the 23 local government areas of the state without strict compliance with relevant laws guiding such election.
Justice Lifu held that the RSIEC failed to publish the 90-day mandatory notice before it scheduled the election.
More so, he held that the update and revision of voters’ register to be used for the election ought to have been concluded before any valid date could be fixed for the polls.
Consequently, he ordered INEC not to make the certified voters’ register available to RSIEC, pending when the relevant laws were complied with.
He further barred RSIEC from accepting any voter register from INEC or using same for the purpose of the LG polls, a decision that was upheld by the Supreme Court on Friday
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