The faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly aligned with Governor Siminalayi Fubara has formally directed the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) to proceed with the local government elections as planned.
This decision was announced during the Assembly’s plenary session on Wednesday. Speaker Victor Oko-Jumbo emphasized the importance of the upcoming elections in ensuring compliance with a recent Supreme Court ruling regarding local government autonomy.
“On the 11th day of July, 2024, the Supreme Court in suit No. SC/CV/343/2024 delivered a landmark judgment affirming the financial autonomy of Nigeria’s 774 Local Government Councils,” Oko-Jumbo stated.
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He elaborated that the ruling mandates that democratically elected local government councils must always be in place, requires all 36 states to adhere to this directive.
Consequently, the House issued an order instructing RSIEC to use the national register of voters compiled by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the 2023 general election.
“The Rivers State House of Assembly further orders that the Rivers State Government and the Executive Governor must conduct elections into the local government councils on the 5th day of October 2024 in compliance with the rule of law and judgment of the courts,” the Speaker added.
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