The Supreme Court has reserved its judgement on an appeal the All Progressives Congress, APC, filed to nullify the outcome of the local government elections held in Rivers State on October 5, 2024.
A five-member panel of the apex court, led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, okayed the matter for judgement, after all the parties adopted their final briefs of argument.
While the APC, through its lawyer, Mr. J. B. Daudu, SAN, urged the Supreme Court to set aside the November 21, 2024, judgement of the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which declined to invalidate the election, Mr. Yusuf Ali, SAN, who announced appearance for Governor Siminalaye Fubara and Chief Chris Uche, SAN, who is counsel to the
Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, urged the court to dismiss the appeal.
It will be recalled that the appellate court vacated the judgement that barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voter register to the RSIEC for the conduct of LG polls.
A special panel of the appellate court had faulted the Federal High Court in Abuja for barring security agencies from providing security during the elections.
The Justice Onyekachi Otisi-led panel had, in a unanimous decision, held that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain a suit against the Rivers State LG elections.
According to the appellate court, section 28 of the Electoral Act does not cover elections conducted by states but only federal elections, governorship, and area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory.
Justice Peter Lifu of the high court had, on the strength of a suit that was filed by the APC, stopped the conduct of the Rivers State LG election.
The trial court held that the RSIEC erred by fixing a date for the conduct of polls in the 23 local government areas without strict compliance with relevant laws guiding such elections.

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Justice Lifu noted that RSIEC failed to publish the 90-day mandatory notice before it scheduled the election.
Besides, he held that the update and revision of the voters register to be used for the election ought to have been concluded before any valid date could be fixed for the polls.
Justice Lifu ordered INEC not to make the certified voters register available to RSIEC, pending when the relevant laws were complied with.
He further barred RSIEC from accepting any voters register from INEC or using the same for the purpose of the LG polls.