By Deborah Nnamdi
A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has dismissed a motion seeking to stop the forthcoming Local Government Council elections scheduled for August 30, 2025.
Presiding over the matter, Justice Stephen Jumbo ruled that the application lacked merit and consequently dismissed it. However, the court granted a separate motion for substituted service to the defendants.
The suit was filed by Port Harcourt-based lawyer, Williams Abayomi-Stanley, against President Bola Tinubu, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), and its chairman.
The claimant is seeking a judicial interpretation of a section of the RSIEC Law and the Nigerian Constitution, specifically questioning whether the President possesses the authority to appoint the RSIEC chairman and members responsible for conducting local government elections in the state.
Despite rejecting the bid to halt the polls, Justice Jumbo affirmed that the local government elections will proceed as scheduled on August 30, 2025. The case has been adjourned to September 10, 2025, for a hearing on the substantive suit.
Speaking to journalists after the ruling, counsel to the claimant, Godsent Elewa, welcomed the court’s decision to grant substituted service and expressed readiness for the next stage of the legal process.
Earlier, the Chief Judge of Rivers State, Justice Simeon Chibuzor Amadi, had set up election tribunals to handle post-election petitions from the upcoming polls.
In a separate but related development, a former APC House of Assembly candidate for Port Harcourt Constituency 3 in the 2015 elections, Chima Nnokam, along with four others, has filed a fresh suit before the Rivers State High Court challenging the legality of the scheduled August 30 elections.
In their originating summons, the claimants are asking the court to declare the appointment of the current RSIEC chairman and members unlawful and, therefore, lacking the authority to conduct the election.
The suit lists RSIEC, the Attorney General of Rivers State, and two financial institutions as defendants. The claimants argue that the RSIEC officials were not validly appointed in accordance with the provisions of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission Law, 2018.
They also seek the court’s declaration that any elections conducted by the present commission are invalid due to alleged non-compliance with the Electoral Act.
Among their prayers, the claimants are requesting: An injunction restraining RSIEC officials from parading themselves as legitimate officeholders, an order to prevent financial institutions from disbursing RSIEC funds, a declaration nullifying the revised election timetable released by RSIEC Chairman, Mr. Michael Odey, and a directive reinstating Justice Adolphus Enebeli and his team, whom they claim were duly sworn in for a five-year term two years ago.
Part of their reliefs reads: “A declaration that, by virtue of Sections 2 and 4 of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission Law, 2018, the 2nd to 8th defendants are not validly appointed Chairman and Members of RSIEC and therefore lack the competence to conduct, organize, or supervise any local government elections in the state.”
The court is expected to deliberate on this new suit, which may have implications for the August 30 elections, depending on how proceedings unfold.
