Appeal Court Overturns High Court Ruling on Rivers State Local Government Elections

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has nullified a Federal High Court judgment that barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from providing the voters’ register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) for the conduct of local government elections. The elections, initially delayed by legal challenges, have since been conducted.

The appellate court’s decision, delivered by a special panel led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi, determined that the lower court lacked jurisdiction to hear the matter. The court clarified that Section 28 of the Electoral Act pertains exclusively to federal elections, governorship elections, and area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory, not state-conducted elections. Furthermore, the Court of Appeal ruled that the Federal High Court erred in directing security agencies to refrain from performing their constitutional duties.

The original case, adjudicated by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, had criticized RSIEC for setting October 5 as the election date without adhering to relevant laws. Justice Lifu found that RSIEC violated the local government election law by failing to issue the mandatory 90-day notice before scheduling the election. Additionally, he ruled that updating and revising the voters’ register was a prerequisite for fixing a valid election date. Consequently, he ordered INEC to withhold the Certified Voters’ Register from RSIEC until all legal conditions were met.

The appeal, part of a series of legal challenges to the Federal High Court’s decisions on Rivers State’s political cases, underscores ongoing disputes over election processes in the state. The special appellate panel, led by Justice Otisi, had earlier reserved judgment on the consolidated appeals. This ruling settles one of the contentious issues, reinforcing the jurisdictional limits of the Federal High Court in matters involving state elections.