Elected chairmen of the 23 local government areas in Rivers State who were sacked by a judgement of the Federal High Court in 2015, but were restored by the Court of Appeal on February 2025, are laying claim to the chairmanship position of the councils.
They were elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which was the ruling party in the state as at then.
The Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt Division had 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.
Addressing a press conference in Port Harcourt yesterday, legal adviser of the group, Sogbeye Eli, said they are the only elected council chairman, who are constitutionally empowered to take over the running of the councils in the state.
Eli said: “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 5th of October 2024 for contravening the extant provisions of RSIEC Laws, among others.
“In the light of the foregoing, vacancies in various local governments 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 Councilors in 2015, having been judicially recognized by the Court of Appeal after a protracted legal battle.
“It is in consideration of the above that we express our gratitude, first to God almighty for His grace and enablement and to the President and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, His Excellency Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, for his pragmatic and visionary leadership and for his dispassionate disposition in the running of the judiciary which has, in the main, made the various level of courts to operate with great deal of autonomy and independence.”
He insisted that they do not need to be sworn into office again because they were sworn in in 2015, during the administration of former Governor Chibuike Amaechi.
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