Appeal Court Affirms Local Government Elections In Rivers State

The Rivers State Local Government elections, which were held under Governor Siminalayi Fubara’s administration, were upheld by the Abuja Court of Appeal.
When the appellate court overturned a Federal High Court decision that had ruled against the council election, it included this information in its ruling on Thursday.

Didactic Information Hut recalls that the Action Peoples Party (APP) won the local government election a few Saturdays ago in 22 out of 23 local government areas in Rivers State.

The Action Peoples Party, or APP, was proclaimed the victor in 22 of the state’s 23 local government councils by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, or RSIEC. The results were announced at the RSIEC office in Port Harcourt by the Commission’s chairman, Justice Adolphus Enebeli (retd). Enebeli clarified that following the completion of the collation, the results of the Etche Local Government Area and the 319 councillorship positions would be made public. According to the chairman of the RSIEC, 18 political parties took part in the election, which was conducted at 6,866 units throughout the state. Dissatisfied with these outcomes, the All Progressives Congress (APC) successfully petitioned the Federal High Court to declare the process void due to alleged violations of the Electoral Act.

But later, the appellate court found that the lower court lacked the authority to consider the All Progressives Congress’s (APC) case. Additionally, the court ruled that local government elections are exempt from the Electoral Act. The Court of Appeal ruled that the Federal High Court lacked the authority to consider the APC’s appeal against the way the local government election was conducted in Rivers State. The court also made it clear that local government is exempt from the Electoral Act, which regulates how elections are conducted in Nigeria.