The Court of Appeal in Abuja has upheld the Rivers State Local Government elections conducted by the administration of Governor Siminalayi Fubara.

This was contained in a judgement given by the appellate court on Thursday while overturning a Federal High Court judgement that ruled against the council election.

SaharaReporters had reported that the Action Peoples Party (APP) was winner in 22 of the 23 local government areas of Rivers State in the local government election held several Saturdays ago.

The Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC had declared the Action Peoples Party, APP, winner in 22 of the 23 local government areas of the state.

The Chairman of the Commission, Justice Adolphus Enebeli (retd), had declared the results at the RSIEC office in Port Harcourt.

Enebeli clarified that the result of Etche Local Government Area and the 319 councillorship positions would be announced upon conclusion of collation.

The RSIEC chairman said the election was held at 6,866 units of the state and that 18 political parties participated in the process.

Dissatisfied with these results, the All Progressives Congress (APC) had approached the Federal High Court to nullify the process for alleged breach of Electoral Act and the party succcedded at the lower court.

However, the appellate court later determined that the lower court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case presented by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The court also held that the Electoral Act is not applicable to local government elections.

In its ruling, the Court of Appeal stated that the Federal High Court did not have the jurisdiction to entertain the appeal filed by the APC against the conduct of the local government election in Rivers State.

The court further clarified that the Electoral Act, which governs the conduct of elections in Nigeria, does not apply to local government elections.

The Rivers State Government has described the judgment, as a landmark judgment that would restore the people’s hopes at a time Nigerians are losing hopes in the judiciary.

The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Joseph Johnson, said the decision of the appellant court reaffirms the validity of the Rivers State local council election.

Johnson said: “It has been a happy mood in Rivers State. This confirms that Governor Siminalayi Fubara made the right decisions. This is just a pointer to more good news to come.

“There’s no cause for alarm on other matters in court, stating that the state government is on the side of law.”

Also, the Chairman of the Association of Local Government, Rivers State Chapter, Ezebunwo Ichemati, expressed delight over the judgment, saying it has forgiven the council chairmen from the legal battle, which was argued before Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court, as it lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter.

Ichemati, who is also the Mayor of Port Harcourt, affirmed that it was clear that the conduct of the Rivers State local council election was guided by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) Law.

He said that RSIEC complied with all the laws and did not err in its duties.

He said: “The crux of the matter has always been that Justice Lifu lacked the jurisdiction to adjudicate on that matter, as only the State High Court has the authority to preside over issues concerning the state electoral commission’s operations and decisions.