November 22, 2024
By Idris Buba
The Court of Appeal Abuja has nullified the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voters’ register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission for the conduct of the state local government polls .
The election however, held on October 5,2024 in all 23 local government councils of Rivers State.
Delivering judgement Thursday ,the special panel led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi, held that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain 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 held that the lower court was wrong to have ordered security agencies not to carry out their constitutional duties.
READ MORE; COURT REJECTS BID TO HALT RIVERS GOVERNOR’S SPENDING AND VOTERS REGISTER RELEASE TO INEC
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja had delivered judgment in a suit, criticising RSIEC for setting October 5 as the election date without adhering to the relevant laws governing the conduct of the election.
He held that the Rivers State electoral commission violated the provisions of the local government election law by failing to publish the mandatory 90-day notice before fixing the election date.
He further held that the updating and revision of the voters’ register should have been completed before a legally valid election date could be set.
The judge consequently ordered INEC not to release the Certified Voters’ Register to RSIEC until all legal requirements were met.
