The Special Court of Appeal panel assigned to handle political cases in Rivers State has reserved its judgment on the consolidated appeals challenging the ruling by Justice Peter Lifu of the Federal High Court in Abuja.
The three-member panel, led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi, reserved judgment after hearing the final arguments and briefs from the parties involved.
One appeal relates to the Rivers local government elections. In his ruling, Justice Lifu barred the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from providing the voters’ register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission for conducting local government elections, which have since taken place.
In a separate case brought by members of the Rivers State chapter of the PDP, reportedly aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, Justice Lifu issued an ex-parte order preventing the PDP’s national leadership from dissolving the newly elected executives of the Rivers State chapter.
A brief moment of tension occurred in court when two senior lawyers separately announced representation for the PDP in a case seeking to remove 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to Wike. J. Y Musa represented the PDP’s executive led by Umar Damagum, while B. F. Folurunsho stated that he had been assigned the case by the party’s National Legal Adviser, asserting his authority to represent the party in legal matters.