Five months after the Rivers state council poll, the Supreme Court has sacked 23 Local Government chairmen, who won under the All People’s Party (APP), ruling the election as null.
In a judgement delivered by by Justice Jamilu Tukur, the court nullified the election conducted on October 5, 2024, for violating the country’s electoral act.
During the ruling on Friday, Justice Tukur declared the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission’s actions void, citing a lack of substantial compliance with the Electoral Act and guidelines since the commission continued voter registration after announcing an election date.
He held that the processes leading to the conduct of the local government election were abridged in clear violation of Section 150 of the Electoral Act, 2022.
According to Justice Tukur, the election was invalid because all conditions precedent billed to be implemented were disregarded by the Rivers State Electoral Commission.
Tukur’s verdict has overturned the Court of Appeal ruling, which had previously canceled out the Federal High court’s judgement to stop Rivers electoral body from conducting the council election until an updated voters register was in place.
It would be recalled that Justice Peter Lifu, last year, restrained the Governor Siminalayi Fubara from proceeding with the council poll , citing the need for an updated voter register before the polls could be conducted.
