The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission has affirmed that there is no court judgment preventing the conduct of local government elections in the state on October 5, 2024.
The commission’s Chairman, Justice Adolphus Enebeli (retd.), stated this during the training of master trainers for the commission’s staff in Port Harcourt.
The PUNCH reported that the sacked chairman of the Caretaker Committee of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Tony Okocha, at a news briefing in Port Harcourt on Monday, said the conduct of the LG elections was a subject of litigation, hence it would not be held.
Okocha, referencing a statement by the court-reinstated state party executive led by Chief Emeka Beka about participating in the elections, stated that the executive was on its own, as the party had already taken a stand against the election.
Dismissing Okocha’s claim, Enebeli said the October 5 date for the poll remained sacrosanct, pointing out that of the 19 political parties, 18 would be participating in the elections with over 300 contestants vying for various positions.
Enebeli insisted that there was no court judgment restraining the commission from going ahead with the poll or any other impediment preventing it from holding, even as he cited the recent Supreme Court judgment which gave vent to the conduct of democratically elected local government councils.
The RSIEC chairman stated, “There is no judgment as yet perpetually restraining us from conducting elections.
“On the 11th of July this year, if I’m not mistaken, the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the highest court in the land, laid it down emphatically, compendiously in its judgment that democratically elected local government elections should be conducted in all the states that have not done so.
“And the consequences would follow if we do not. So, Rivers people and the Federal Government of Nigeria are enthusiastically expecting the conduct of elections.
“Section 60(2) of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Law of 2018 provides that no court proceedings shall restrain primaries or the conduct of elections. INEC has a responsibility to register RSIEC voters.
“No judgment against the conduct of the election. The Supreme Court of the land has said we should conduct elections. And so 5th October 2024, that date by the grace of God is as invariable as it is sacrosanct,” he said.
He further said the exercise would be conducted in tandem with the provisions of the SIEC Law, hence the Independent National Electoral Commission was bound to make the voter register available to the RSIEC.
PUNCH
