Abuja court can’t stop Rivers LG poll, says Fubara

Rivers State Governor,  Siminalayi Fubara, on Monday, insisted that the forthcoming local government election scheduled for October 5, 2024, will be held as scheduled.

The governor’s declaration came after Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja barred the Independent National Electoral Commission from releasing the voter register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission for the conduct of the election.

The court also barred the Inspector General of Police and the Department of State Service from providing security.

Justice Lifu, while delivering judgment in the suit brought before him by the All Progressives Congress in the state on Monday, faulted RSIEC for fixing October 5 as the date for the election when all relevant laws guiding it had not been complied with.

The presiding judge also held that “the Rivers State electoral body violated provisions of the Local Government Election Conduct Law by not publishing the mandatory 90 days notice before fixing the date.”

Justice Lifu also held that the update and revision of the voter register ought to have been concluded before an election date could be legally and validly fixed in law.

He, therefore, ordered INEC not to release the certified voter register to RSIEC until the law had been fully complied with.

He further barred RSIEC from accepting any voter register from INEC or using it for the October 5 poll.

The suit was argued on behalf of the APC by a team of senior lawyers comprising Joseph Daudu (SAN), Sebastine Hon (SAN) and Ogwu James Onoja (SAN).

On July 19, Justice Lifu had, in a ruling on an ex parte motion filed by the APC, issued an order restraining INEC from releasing the voter register to the RSIEC for the conduct of local government elections in Rivers State.

Fubara, however, said there was no encumbrance known to the law that would stop the conduct of the election.

He urged political parties and candidates contesting for various positions in the election and the electorate to be enthusiastic as they prepared to vote for their preferred candidates who would become the new political leaders at the council level.

Giving the assurance shortly after an inspection tour around some sections of the 12.5km N225.1bn Trans-Kalabari Road project on Monday, the governor insisted that the election would be held on October 5.

In a statement issued by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Nelson Chukwudi, and sent to newsmen on Monday evening, Fubara also visited the RSIEC complex where he interacted with the chairman of the commission, Justice Adolphus Enebeli (retd) and other principal staff.

“I’m aware that RSIEC told me they already had an order mandating them to conduct the election on the 5th of October, 2024, and the security agencies to support them.

“So, I think with that order, the election will be held. I might not be a lawyer but I know there is something they call first-in-hand, and since they have the first-in-hand, we will give them all the necessary support for that election to be conducted and it will be one of the best elections ever conducted free and fair in this state,” he said.

Fubara warned those he called some misguided fellows and bad elements in the RSIEC planning to disrupt the election to retrace their steps.

“What is important to me is the interest of Rivers State, that it has to be alive. It doesn’t belong to anybody. I don’t care who nominated you but do the right thing, that is important to me because if we make a mistake today, it will live with us forever.

“Nobody has a right to come here. This is the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission. It belongs to Rivers State and I am the governor. So, if there is anything, let me know, I will come here myself,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Action Peoples Party has rejected the judgment by Justice Lifu, which barred INEC from releasing the voter register for the October 5 election.

Its national chairman, Uchenne Nnadi, at a news briefing in Port Harcourt, on Monday, described the judgment of the Abuja court as conflicting and laughable.

Nnadi said the party received the judgment with great shock, saying it was a clear example of “judicial confusion” and “conflict of decision.”

He decried the controversies surrounding two judgments delivered by Justice Lifu within 10 days.

“As laughable as this judgment may sound, this joke has been taken too far, and it is high time it stopped,” he said.

He noted that the judgment delivered by Justice Lifu contradicted Section 60(2) of the RSIEC Law and Section 84(15) of the Electoral Act, which prevents courts from stopping elections.

Nnadi called on the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice John Tsoho, to intervene and prevent the court from becoming a platform for politicians to obtain judgments and orders like commodities.

He also called on the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the National Judicial Council to take immediate action to restore integrity to the Federal High Court.

“We, therefore, call on the Chief Justice of Nigeria and the National Judicial Council to note that if urgent action is not taken to sanitise the Federal High Court, the society will soon lose all confidence in that court and treat their judgment and orders as mere personal political opinions which will lead to a state of anarchy.

“A judge cannot be allowed to indulge in judicial gymnastics, sidestep fundamental prayers of counsel and nullify and rely on laws he chooses to suit his ambition and get away with it,” he said.