2015 LG chairmen stake claim to vacant council seats in Rivers 

The elected 2015 Local Government Council Chairmen, Vice Chairmen, and Councilors in Rivers State have declared themselves the rightful occupants of the vacant Local Government Council seats.

This declaration comes on the heels of a recent Court of Appeal ruling, which set aside the July 9, 2015 judgment of the Federal High Court nullifying the 2015 Local Government Council election.

The Court of Appeal’s ruling, delivered on February 28, 2025, in Appeal Number CA/PH/172/2024, held that the election of the appellants was without any legal encumbrances.

The court criticised the trial court for refusing to hear and determine two motions for joinder filed by the appellants, seeking to restrain the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the Register of Voters to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission for the conduct of the council election scheduled for May 23, 2015.

On the same day, the Supreme Court delivered a separate ruling, sacking the council chairmen elected on October 5, 2024, for contravening the extant provisions of RSIEC Laws, among others.

The ruling, they claimed, created vacancies in the various Local Government Councils in Rivers State.

At a press conference held in Port Harcourt on Tuesday, the council chairmen stated that they are the rightful persons to occupy the vacant positions, having been lawfully recognised by the Court of Appeal after a protracted legal battle.

Speaking on behalf of the elected chairmen, Hon. Benson Imie, who was elected Chairman of Andoni LGA, noted that when the Supreme Court, in its judgment on Friday, voided the local government election conducted in the state in 2024, vacancies ensued in the LGAs of the state.

He said: “It will be recalled that the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, has set aside the July 9, 2015, judgment of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, which nullified the Local Government Council election conducted by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) on May 23, 2015.

“Delivering judgment on Friday, February 28, 2025, on the appeal filed by the chairmen of the 22 Local Government Councils challenging the nullification of the 2015 council election in Appeal Number CA/PH/172/2024 (Hon. Augustine P. Ngo & 22 Ors v. People’s Democratic Party & Ors.), the Appeal Court nullified and set aside the judgment of the Federal High Court on grounds of violent breach and flagrant abuse of the appellants’ right to fair hearing, jealously protected and preserved under Section 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) and a plethora of case laws, holding that the election of the appellants was without any legal encumbrances.”

Imie stated that following the Appeal and Supreme Court judgments, the right people to take over the local government administration in the state are those who were elected in the 2015 election.

He said: “It must be recalled that, at the time of the judgment referred to above, there was no vacancy at the Local Government Council, and that constrained the Appeal Court from making consequential orders in relation thereto. On the other hand, and on the same date of Friday, February 28, the Supreme Court, in one of the matters decided upon on the said date, sacked all the council chairmen elected on the 5th of October, 2024, for contravening the extant provisions of RSIEC Laws, among others.

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“In light of the foregoing, vacancies in various local governments ensued. In view of the above, the rightful persons to occupy the vacant positions at the Local Government Councils are the duly elected Chairmen, Vice Chairmen, and Councilors in 2015, having been judicially recognised by the Court of Appeal after a protracted legal battle.”

Also, Reginald Ukwoma, who was elected as Etche LGA Chairman, noted that the chairmen and their councilors don’t need to be sworn in again because they had taken the oath of office before they were removed from office in 2015.

Ukwoma said, “We don’t need swearing in again. We have been sworn into office; we cannot take another oath of office. At the moment, we will wait to receive the Certified True Copies of the Appeal Court and the Supreme Court judgments, then we will know when to resume office.”

The group expressed gratitude to President Bola Tinubu for his pragmatic and visionary leadership and for his dispassionate disposition in the running of the judiciary, which has allowed the various levels of courts to operate with autonomy and independence.

They also thanked the judiciary, both at the Court of Appeal and Supreme Court levels, for allowing justice to prevail.