The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja has nullified the judgment of the Federal High Court concerning the Rivers State local government elections.
The Appeal Court ruled that the Federal High Court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC), which was the first respondent in the case.
Consequently, all orders and decisions made by the Federal High Court regarding the matter have been set aside.
This decision reaffirms the validity of the Rivers State local government election and overturns the earlier ruling that sought to challenge it.
Delivering judgement, the special panel led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi, held that the lower court had erred in entertaining the matter as Section 28 of the Electoral Act does not cover elections conducted by states, only federal elections, governorship and area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory.
The appellate court also chidded the lower court for ordering security agencies not to carry out their constitutional duties.
It could be recalled that Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court had delivered judgment in a suit which criticized Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) for setting October 5 as the election date without adhering to the relevant laws governing the conduct of the election.
He ruled that the Rivers State electoral body violated the provisions of the local government election law by failing to publish the mandatory 90-day notice before fixing the election date.
The judge had further held that the updating and revision of the voters’ register should have been completed before a legally valid election date could be set.
He consequently ordered INEC not to release the Certified Voters’ Register to RSIEC until all legal requirements had been met.
This appeal is amongst other appeals filed by aggrieved parties against certain judgments of the Federal High Court Abuja.
A special court of appeal panel, set up to adjudicate on the political cases in River State, led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi, had reserved judgment in the consolidated appeals contesting the judgment of Justice Peter Lifu.