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The Supreme Court of Nigeria has reserved judgment on the appeal filed by the All Progressives Congress (APC) seeking to annul the Rivers State local government elections held on October 5, 2024.
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The court announced that it would communicate the date for the judgment after all parties involved in the case presented their arguments.
Previously, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court had issued an injunction preventing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voters’ register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) for the election. He also barred the police and the Department of State Services from providing security during the election. Despite this, RSIEC proceeded with the election, which saw the opposition Action Peoples Party (APP) winning 22 out of 23 local government seats in the state.
In response, the Rivers State Government appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal, which overturned the Federal High Court ruling, stating that the court lacked jurisdiction over the matter. The appellate court ruled that the Electoral Act only covers federal elections and not state or local government elections.
Dissatisfied with the appeal court’s judgment, APC took the case to the Supreme Court. During Monday’s proceedings, APC’s counsel, J. B. Daudu (SAN), urged the court to uphold the appeal and annul the Rivers local government election results. In contrast, Chris Uche (SAN), representing RSIEC, and Yusuf Ali (SAN), representing Governor Siminalayi Fubara, requested the dismissal of the appeal.
A five-member panel of the Supreme Court, led by Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, announced that the judgment would be reserved, with the date to be communicated later.
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