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Court of Appeal Ruling Shakes Up Rivers LG Election Dispute, Overturns Key Judgment

Published by Tope Fakinlede on November 22nd, 2024.

Court of Appeal Ruling Shakes Up Rivers LG Election Dispute, Overturns Key Judgment

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has annulled a Federal High Court decision that prohibited the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from providing the voters’ register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) for the recently held local government elections, as reported by FIRST CLASS GISTS.

Justice Onyekachi Otisi, who led the panel of the appellate court, determined that the Federal High Court lacked the proper jurisdiction to rule on the case. He clarified that Section 28 of the Electoral Act pertains only to federal, governorship, and area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory, and not to state-level elections.

The appellate court further criticized the lower court’s decision to instruct security agencies to refrain from carrying out their constitutional responsibilities.

In the original ruling, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court had found that RSIEC violated electoral law by failing to issue the required 90-day notice before setting the election date. This decision had resulted in a ban on INEC releasing the voters’ register to RSIEC until the legal requirements were fulfilled.

The appeal is one of multiple challenging various aspects of the Federal High Court’s rulings regarding Rivers State’s local government elections.