The Court of Appeal in Abuja has nullified the Federal High Court’s ruling that had blocked the Independent National Electoral Commission from providing the voters’ register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission for the state’s local government elections, which have already taken place.
In a judgment delivered by a special panel led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi, the Appeal Court ruled that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction over the matter.
The panel explained that Section 28 of the Electoral Act applies solely to federal elections, as well as governorship and area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory, and does not cover elections conducted by individual states, according to Channels TV.
The appellate court also disagreed with the Federal High Court’s order that security agencies refrain from performing their constitutional duties, describing the directive as erroneous.
The case had originally been brought before the Federal High Court by a suit accusing RSIEC of improperly setting the local government election date for October 5 without complying with the legal requirements.
Justice Peter Lifu ruled that RSIEC had violated the local government election law by failing to issue the mandatory 90-day notice before setting the election date.
He also held that the updating of the voters’ register should have been completed before a valid election date could be announced, and ordered INEC not to release the voters’ register to RSIEC until these legal conditions were met.
This appeal is part of a broader series of cases challenging judgments issued by the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The Court of Appeal’s special panel, established to handle political cases in Rivers State, had earlier reserved its judgment on the consolidated appeals concerning the matter.
