A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt dismissed an ex parte injunction on Thursday that sought to halt the state’s local government elections on August 30.
The Presiding Judge, Justice Stephen Jumbo, dismissed a suit filed by a Port Harcourt-based legal practitioner, Williams Abayomi-Stanley, against President Bola Tinubu, the Attorney General of the Federation, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, and its Chairman, saying the application for motion ex parte lacked merit.
Jumbo, on the other hand, granted the defendants’ plea for an ex parte order for substituted service while ordering that the August 30th LG elections be held as scheduled and adjourned until September 10, 2025, for a hearing on the substantive suit.
Speaking to reporters outside the courtroom, the claimant’s counsel, Godsent Elewa, stated that his client was in court to seek an interpretation of a section of the RSIEC law and the Constitution of Nigeria as amended, specifically whether the president has the authority to appoint a chairman and members of the commission to conduct local LG polls in the state.
Elewa, while recounting the events that led to the dismissal of his application, praised the court’s decision, which allowed one of his requests, and stated his willingness to continue the proceedings on the next adjourned date.
He stated, “My client, Williams Stanley-Abayomi, is a constitutional lawyer and an indigene of Rivers State from Emuoha LGA. The applicant basically is in court to seek the interpretations of some sections, particularly section 2 sub 1 and section 3 sub 1 of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission Law number 12, 2018, and Sections 197, 198 and 200 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as altered.”
He, however, stated that he has nothing against the court ruling, especially as one of the prayers of his client was granted.
“We have two motions ex parte. The first was the motion ex parte for an interim injunction to restrain the conduct of the August 30 local government elections. Unfortunately, the Court dismissed that motion as it lacked merit and adjourned to the 10th of September for all the parties to be served with our substantive processes and for us to argue the main application.
“The second order was an order for substituted service to be effected on the first and the second defendants, who are President Bola Tinubu and the Attorney-General of the Federation. So these were the two orders the court granted today,” he concluded.
