Rivers State High Court Orders LG Chairmen To Justify Elections

A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has ordered the chairmen of Obio/Akpor, Port Harcourt City and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government areas, alongside their deputies and councillors, to appear before it and show cause why their elections of August 30, 2025, should not be nullified.

The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission conducted council elections across the 23 local government areas of the state on August 30, 2025, with candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) emerging as winners in the affected councils.

Justice Stephen Jumbo issued the order on Tuesday after granting an application to join the Chairman of Obio/Akpor LGA, Hon. Gift Worlu, and 59 others as a second set of respondents in the suit filed by three PDP stakeholders.

The judge adjourned the matter to March 17, 2026, for hearing.

He also granted an application for substituted service filed by counsel to the claimants, Glory Chizim-Chinda, directing that court processes be served on the defendants at the PDP State Secretariat on Aba Road, Port Harcourt.

The claimants, Enyi Uchechukwu, Wisdom Kalio and Uche Amadi, instituted the suit against the state factional Chairman of the PDP, Aaron Chukwuemeka; the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission; the PDP; and the Rivers State Government.

They are asking the court to determine whether Chukwuemeka, whose emergence was nullified by a previous High Court judgment, had the legal capacity to submit a list of candidates to RSIEC for the council elections.

Specifically, the claimants seek the court’s determination of whether the PDP validly presented Chukwuemeka as a candidate for the August 30, 2025, polls.

The plaintiffs are also seeking a declaration that the PDP’s Ward, Local Government and State Elective Congresses held on July 27 and August 10, 2024, are a nullity, having allegedly been set aside by a Rivers State High Court.

They argued that since Chukwuemeka emerged from the disputed congresses, he lacked the competence to conduct party primaries or submit candidates’ names for elective positions.

Among other reliefs, the claimants are praying for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants from interfering in the PDP’s internal affairs regarding nomination and presentation of candidates for elective offices.