The Supreme Court has voided the local government elections conducted by the state-owned Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) on October 5, 2024.
Justice Jamilu Tukur, who read the lead judgment on Friday, annulled the LG polls following an appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Recall that RSIEC had declared the chairmanship candidates of the Action Peoples Party (APP) as winners in 22 of the 23 local government areas of Rivers State.
This was despite a Federal High Court (FHC) judgment in Abuja by Justice Peter Lifu, which had barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voter register to RSIEC for the conduct of the LG polls.
The legal teams of APC and the Rivers State Government, among others, approached the FHC for a ruling on the legality of the local government electoral process.
Furthermore, Justice Lifu barred RSIEC from accepting or using any voter register from INEC for the October 5 local government polls until it complied with electoral laws.
Disagreeing with the judgment, the Rivers State Government approached the Appeal Court for redress.
The Appeal Court in Abuja, however, overturned Justice Lifu’s ruling, stating that he lacked jurisdiction to preside over the Rivers State LG electoral process.
This led the parties to escalate the dispute to the Supreme Court for a final determination.
In a unanimous decision, the apex court quashed the Appeal Court’s judgment, stating that “there was no evidence to establish that the conditions precedent stipulated by Section 150(3) of the Electoral Act, 2010, were met before the election was conducted by RSIEC.”
The court also concurred with Justice Lifu that the voter register must be updated and revised before an election can be conducted legally and validly.
The Supreme Court’s verdict means that the current LG chairmen in Rivers State have been removed from office.
It also implies that a fresh local government election in Rivers State is now imminent.