Court rejects request to stop Rivers LG poll

A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt on Thursday dismissed an ex parte application seeking to stop the local government elections scheduled for Saturday, August 30 in the state.

Justice Stephen Jumbo ruled on a suit filed by Port Harcourt-based legal practitioner, Williams Abayomi-Stanley, against President Bola Tinubu, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, and its Chairman.

 The judge held that the application for the ex parte motion lacked merit and consequently dismissed it.

However, Justice Jumbo granted an ex parte order for substituted service on the defendants but directed that the August 30 local government elections should proceed as planned.

The substantive suit was adjourned to September 10, 2025, for hearing.

Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, counsel for the claimant, Godsent Elewa, explained that his client sought an interpretation of certain provisions in the RSIEC law and the 1999 Constitution to determine whether the President has the authority to appoint the Chairman and members of the commission responsible for conducting local government elections in Rivers State.

Elewa, while recounting the events leading to the dismissal of the application, welcomed the court’s ruling on the substituted service order and expressed readiness to continue with the proceedings on the next adjourned date.

He said, “My client, Williams Abayomi-Stanley, is a constitutional lawyer and an indigene of Emuoha Local Government Area in Rivers State. The applicant is in court to seek interpretation of specific sections—particularly Section 2(1) and Section 3(1) of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission Law No. 12, 2018, as well as Sections 197, 198, and 200 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).”

Elewa added that he respected the court’s decision, especially since one of his client’s motions was granted.

“We filed two ex parte motions. The first was for an interim injunction to restrain the conduct of the August 30 local government elections, which the court dismissed for lacking merit. The court adjourned the substantive hearing to September 10, allowing all parties to be served and for the main application to be argued.

“The second order granted was for substituted service to be effected on the first and second defendants, namely President Bola Tinubu and the Attorney-General of the Federation. These were the two orders the court granted today.”