The Court of Appeal in Abuja has overturned the 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 conduct of local government elections, which have since been concluded.
Delivering judgment, a special appellate panel led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi declared that the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case. The court noted that Section 28 of the Electoral Act applies solely to federal elections, governorship elections, and area council elections in the Federal Capital Territory, excluding state-conducted elections.
The appellate court also ruled that the lower court erred in directing security agencies not to fulfill their constitutional responsibilities.
Previously, Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court had delivered a judgment criticizing RSIEC for setting October 5 as the election date without complying with relevant legal provisions. Justice Lifu held that RSIEC violated the Local Government Election Law by failing to issue the mandatory 90-day public notice before scheduling the election. He further stated that the voters’ register update and revision process should have been completed before a valid election date could be fixed.
Consequently, Justice Lifu had ordered INEC to withhold the Certified Voters’ Register from RSIEC until all legal requirements were met.
The appeal against this ruling is one of several filed by aggrieved parties challenging various decisions of the Federal High Court in Abuja. The special appellate panel, established to address political disputes in Rivers State, had previously reserved judgment in the consolidated appeals related to Justice Lifu’s decision.
