Appeal Court sitting in Abuja has nullified the judgment of the Federal High Court in Abuja, which barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voters’ register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission for the conduct of the state local government polls which has now been conducted.
Delivering judgement, the special panel led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi, held that the lower court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter as Section 28 of the Electoral Act does not cover elections conducted by states, only federal elections, governorship and area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory.
The appellate court also held that the lower court was wrong to have ordered security agencies not to carry out their constitutional duties.
Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court had delivered judgment in a suit, criticizing RSIEC for setting October 5 as the election date without adhering to the relevant laws governing the conduct of the election.
He ruled that the Rivers State electoral body violated the provisions of the local government election law by failing to publish the mandatory 90-day notice before fixing the election date.
The judge further held that the updating and revision of the voters’ register should have been completed before a legally valid election date could be set.
He consequently ordered INEC not to release the Certified Voters’ Register to RSIEC until all legal requirements had been met.
This appeal is amongst other appeals filed by aggrieved parties against certain judgments of the Federal High Court Abuja.
A special court of appeal panel, set up to adjudicate on the political cases in River State, led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi, had reserved judgment in the consolidated appeals contesting the judgment of Justice Peter Lifu.