BREAKING: Supreme Court Invalidates Rivers State Local Government Council Polls
The Supreme Court has invalidated the local government elections conducted by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) on October 5, 2024, citing significant breaches of the Electoral Act.
The apex court upheld an appeal that was brought before it by the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Jamilu Tukur ruled that the election was null and void due to a lack of substantial compliance with electoral laws and guidelines. According to the court, RSIEC failed to adhere to proper procedures, particularly by continuing voter registration after officially announcing the election date.
Justice Tukur emphasized that the electoral commission’s actions violated Section 150 of the Electoral Act, which outlines the necessary procedures for conducting local government elections.
The court further noted that the hurried process leading up to the election compromised its credibility, rendering the entire exercise unlawful.
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.
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.
