The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned the Federal High Court’s ruling that prohibited the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from providing the voters’ register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) for the recently conducted local government elections.
In delivering the decision, the special panel led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi stated that the lower court lacked jurisdiction over the case, as Section 28 of the Electoral Act pertains only to federal elections, including governorship elections and area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory.
The appellate court also deemed the lower court’s directive preventing security agencies from performing their constitutional duties as erroneous.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court had criticized the RSIEC for unilaterally setting October 5 as the election date without proper compliance with the laws governing the electoral process. He ruled that the rivers State electoral body breached local government election law by failing to issue the required 90-day public notice prior to scheduling the election.
Additionally, the judge indicated that updating and revising the voters’ register should have been completed before a legally valid election date could be established. Consequently, he ordered that INEC refrain from releasing the Certified Voters’ Register to RSIEC until all legal requirements were satisfied.
This appeal is among several filed by dissatisfied parties contesting various judgments from the Federal High Court in Abuja. A special panel of the appellate court, convened to address political cases in Rivers State and led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi, has reserved judgment on the consolidated appeals challenging Justice Peter Lifu’s ruling.
