Tuesday, October 29, 2024 – The Chief Justice of Nigeria
(CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, has summoned multiple judges for questioning
following conflicting rulings related to political cases in Rivers State. The
CJN has also called in the chief judge of the federal high court for an inquiry
scheduled for Tuesday.
A
panel, established by the National Judicial Council (NJC) to investigate the
matter, is set to be led by a former justice of the court of appeal alongside
two heads of courts. The panel’s findings are expected to be submitted by the
end of this week. Additionally, the chief judge of the Rivers State High Court
has been summoned to appear before the NJC panel next week.
The summons follows formal complaints made to the NJC regarding
contradictory rulings on the Rivers State local government area (LGA)
elections. On September 4, a state high court ruled that the Rivers State
Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) could proceed with the LGA elections
using the 2023 voter register. Later, on September 30, a federal high court in
Abuja countered this by barring the Independent National Electoral Commission
(INEC) from releasing the voter register to RSIEC. The court further ordered
the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and other security agencies not to provide
security for the elections.
Despite these restrictions, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara
asserted that RSIEC would go ahead with the elections as planned, arguing that
the court order did not prevent the exercise from proceeding. While INEC
confirmed compliance with the federal court order and withheld the voter
register, RSIEC maintained that it had already received the document from INEC
in 2023.
RSIEC subsequently conducted council elections across the state’s 23 LGAs
on October 5 amid tensions between former Rivers governor Nyesom Wike and his
successor, Siminalayi Fubara.
The NJC’s investigation aims to address the inconsistencies in judicial
rulings and restore clarity in the judicial process surrounding politically
sensitive cases.
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