Rivers’ deepening crisis finds fuel in proposed LGA elections

…Wike’s camp: There will never be election; Fed High Court says so

… Fubara: Elections must hold, Supreme Court says so

Governor Sim Fubara of Rivers State has made a broadcast affirming the local council elections scheduled for Saturday, October 5, 2024, would surely hold. The camp of the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike, had declared few hours earlier that the election would never hold.

Based on these two different declarations, the stage seems set for a collision.

The Wike camp represented by Tony Okocha, the Caretaker Committee chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) sacked by the court, has based its declaration on the judgement of a federal high court in Abuja which ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and all security agencies to steer clear of the Rivers LGA elections, saying legal requirements were not met. That was the prayer of the scrapped CTC and the Wike camp.

On the other hand, Gov Fubara said he based his declaration on the judgment of the Supreme Court which ordered all LGAs in Nigeria to end CTC system followed by a Federal Government order that all CTC must end before October 15, 2024.

Gov Fubara:

Fubara in the broadcast argued that the judgment in SC/CV/343/2024 of July 11, 2024, effectively outlawed the administration of their local government councils with unelected officers and made several orders including the immediate stoppage of statutory allocations to Local Government Councils without democratically elected local government councils.

“Following Mr President’s intervention, the period for compliance with the Supreme Court’s judgment was graciously extended by three months, which will expire on the 15 of October 2024.

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“On the strength of these positive developments, I directed the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to take definite steps to conduct local government elections for the 23 local Government Councils of Rivers State.

“Acting per this directive the RSIEC has since fixed and concluded all arrangements to conduct the Local Government Council election on Saturday 5th October 2024.

“The legal impetus of RSIEC to conduct the local government elections was further strengthened by the judgment of the Rivers State High Court in Suit No: PHC/2696/CS/2024 delivered on the 4th of September 2024, which positively directed the Governor of Rivers State, the Government of Rivers State and the RSIEC to conduct the scheduled local government elections on the 5th of October 2025 using the 2023 Independent National Electoral Commission’s Voters Register already in the custody of RSIEC.”

He said RVSIEC is ready to conduct the election, and that it must go on. “As of today, 17 out of 18 registered political parties, including the All Progressives Congress, have expressly and actively demonstrated their willingness to participate by filling candidates with RSIEC for the election.

“As of today, over 10 States in Nigeria have conducted Local Government Council Elections using the 2023 INEC Voters’ Register since the Supreme Court’s judgment and Rivers State cannot be an exception.

“As the Governor of Rivers State, I swore to uphold the Constitution of Nigeria and abide by the rule of law and the principles of democracy.

“Any failure on our part not to conduct the Local Government election would be a clear disobedience of the Supreme Court’s mandatory order that no State Government must administer the Local Government Councils in Nigeria with unelected officers with the attendant consequence of the State and the people being denied the statutory allocations due to the 23 local government areas of the State.”

RSIEC: No going back

The RSIEC has come out to debunk INEC claim it did not release voters register, saying they have it and video evidence of everything.

RSIEC has made it clear: there’s no stopping the local government elections scheduled for October 5, 2024. According to RSIEC Chairman, Adolphus Enebeli, the Supreme Court’s recent ruling mandates democratically elected local government councils across all states, and Rivers State is no exception.

“This decision is not only a constitutional requirement but also a necessary step towards ensuring the people’s voices were heard. The elections will be conducted in full compliance with the Rivers State Electoral Commission Law, which stipulates that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must provide the voters’ register to RSIEC.

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“Section 60, subsection 2 of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Law of 2018 explicitly states that no court proceedings can restrain the conduct of primaries or elections. This clarity is crucial in preventing any potential legal hurdles.”

No election will hold – Wike camp:

Okocha will lead a street procession in Port Harcourt around their own APC secretariat on Thursday, October 3, 2024. They are relying on the Abuja court ruling which said RSIEC’s decision to fix 5 October for local government elections in Rivers State without meeting legal prerequisites constitutes a legal violation.

In a ruling delivered on Monday, the judge, Peter Lifu, also barred the Inspector General of Police and the State Security Service (SSS) from providing security for the controversial elections.

Represented by a team of Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN), including Joseph Daudu, Sebastine Hon, and Ogwu Onoja, the APC argued that the necessary legal procedures leading up to the election had not been observed.

Lifu upheld the party’s arguments, stating that RSIEC had failed to comply with key provisions of the electoral law, including the requirement to publish a 90-day notice before setting an election date.

The judge noted that RSIEC’s decision to fix October 5 for the elections without meeting legal prerequisites, such as updating the voters’ register at least 90 days before the election, constituted a violation of the law.

The judge emphasised that INEC could not release the certified voters’ register until all legal conditions had been met, and RSIEC was prohibited from accepting or using any register provided by INEC for the election.

Conclusion:

It may depend on which party the security agencies would obey from now till Saturday. In the absence of the police and other security agencies, the streets may be ruled by non-state actors who have been warming up.