A federal high court in Abuja, presided over by Judge Donatus Okorowo, has issued a restraining order preventing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from organizing fresh elections for purportedly “vacant” seats in the Rivers State House of Assembly.
This ruling follows the defection of 27 assembly members from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on December 11, prompting Rivers Assembly Speaker Edison Ehie to declare their seats vacant. The affected lawmakers sought legal intervention to prevent their replacement, naming INEC, PDP, Rivers assembly, the state assembly clerk, the inspector-general of police, and the Department of State Services (DSS) as defendants.
Judge Okorowo, in a ruling on the ex parte motion, granted an interim injunction restraining INEC from conducting fresh elections until the main case is heard and determined. Additionally, he prohibited the IGP and DSS from interfering with the plaintiffs’ activities and withdrawing their security details.
The political discord in Rivers State between Governor Siminalayi Fubara and former Governor Nyesom Wike has escalated, leading to factionalism in the state’s legislature and the resignation of nine commissioners from Fubara’s cabinet.
