Court Orders INEC To Stop Collation And Announcement Of Rivers Governorship Elections Results

A Federal High Court in Abuja, on Tuesday, ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission to stop the collation and announcement of the results of the governorship and House of Assembly elections in Rivers State, held on March 9, 2019.

The commission had moved to resume the collation of the results that had been previously suspended, after it was alleged that the AAC’s governorship candidate was leading in the results so far declared at the various collations centres by the INEC returning officers.

There was a disruption of the collation process at some collation centres, which led to the suspension  of results for the elections. INEC later announced the resumption of the results’ collation process, after considering a report from its fact-finding committee, put in place to ascertain the remote and immediate causes of the violence that led to the suspension of the process.

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Justice Inyang Ewa, however, ordered INEC to halt its proceedings, based on an ex-parte application filed by AAC’s candidates.

The applicant prayed the court for an order of Interim Injunction restraining INEC from resuming, collating  or announcing the results of the suspended elections in Rivers State in respect of the elections to the office of Governor and the House of Assembly.

Justice Inyang Ewa ordered INEC to appear before the court on Friday for hearing of the suit filed against it by the AAC and its governorship candidate in the election.

Justice Inyang affirmed that the court would give its final order after it concludes the suit brought before it by the plaintiffs.

INEC, which was represented by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Ransome Uwa, approached the court with a motion challenging its jurisdiction.

The counsel to the plaintiffs, Mohammed Abali, however, objected to the application of INEC, informing the court that the order issued on Monday, asking the electoral body to show cause why the requests of the plaintiffs should not be granted had not been obeyed.

The presiding judge, however, ordered the electoral umpire (INEC) to halt the proceedings, till the court gives the final order.