Court of Appeal overturns judgment on Rivers LG elections

The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned 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 local government elections, which have already been conducted.

Justice Onyekachi Otisi, leading the appellate panel, ruled that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case, emphasizing that Section 28 of the Electoral Act applies only to federal, governorship, and area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory, not state-level elections.

The appellate court also criticized the lower court for directing security agencies to refrain from performing their constitutional duties.

Previously, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court had ruled that RSIEC violated local government election laws by failing to issue the mandatory 90-day notice before announcing the election date.

The judgment had prevented INEC from releasing the voters’ register to RSIEC until all legal requirements were met.

The appeal was one of several filed against decisions of the Federal High Court concerning Rivers State’s local government polls.