A Federal High Court in Abuja on Wednesday held that it will not stop the collation of results of Rivers state governorship and house of assembly elections.
The election held on March 9, 2019. Justice Inyang Ekwo held that it will be unjustifiable for the application brought before him by the African Action Congress (AAC), Engr. Biokpomabo Awara and Ben-Gurion Peter, seeking to stop INEC from resuming collation of the election results, to be heard without hearing from the other party.
Counsel to the plaintiffs, Tawo Tawo (SAN), in an ex-parte application had yesterday prayed for an order to stop INEC from going ahead to resume, conclude and announce the results of the March 9 election.
After listening to the submission of the plaintiffs, the judge refused to grant their prayers.
Rather than granting the prayers, the judge ordered the plaintiffs to put the respondents on notice.
He thereafter adjourned the suit to March 25 for both parties to appear before him.
Earlier, Justice Ekwo had drawn the attention of the plaintiffs’ counsel to a news making the rounds to the effect that he had already stopped the electoral body from going ahead to take further action on the March 9 elections in Rivers State.
The judge also drew the attention of the senior counsel to a name Inyang Ewa, who granted the purported order but the counsel denied the existence of such name for any Federal High Court judge.
Justice Ekwo subsequently reprimanded those behind the fake news, adding that it was wrong for anybody or group to resort to self help because such self help has been prohibited in the judiciary.
The plaintiffs had in their originating summons prayed the court to stop INEC from resuming collation and conclusion of the March 9 election results in Rivers State and from declaring any person or group as winners of the poll.
The plaintiffs specifically applied for an order compelling the electoral body to maintain the inconclusiveness of the election as announced earlier.
Felix Omohomhion, Abuja
