Lucky Obukohwo Reporting
The crisis in Rivers State is getting messier by the day and in resolving that, the 22 elected executive chairmen of the Local Government Councils in Rivers State, under the administration of former Governor Chibuike Amaechi, have come up to declare themselves as the authentic council chairmen.
Recall that they were elected under the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2014, towards the last lap of Amaechi’s administration, but were chased out of office in 2015 by a court when Nyesom Wike took over from his predecessor.
The council chairmen, who had a long legal battle with the State People’s Democratic Party (PDP), told journalists in Port Harcourt on Tuesday that their claim to the position followed a recent Court of Appeal judgement that reinstated them to their office.
In their address, read by Benson Imie, former chairman of Andoni LGA, they said the Court of Appeal in Port Harcourt, on Friday, 28th February 2025, nullified the judgement of a Federal High Court that sacked them from office.
Imie explained: “It will be recalled that the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division, has set aside the July 9, 2015 judgement 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 judgement 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 judgement 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 plethora of case laws, holding that the election of the Appellants was without any legal encumbrances.”
Imie added that, following the Appeal and Supreme Court judgements, the right people to take over the local government administration in the state are those who were elected in the 2015 election.
His words: “It must be recalled that, at the time of the judgement 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, 28th February, 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.
“In the light of the foregoing, vacancies in various Local Government 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 Councillors 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, said that the chairmen and their councillors do not need to be sworn in again because they had taken the oath of office before they were removed from office in 2015.
“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 judgements. Then, we will know when to resume office”, Ukwoma added.