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Court sacks Amaechi’s LG chairmen

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Amaechi, Wike abuse each other

A Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has cancelled the elections held in 22 local government councils on May 23 by then outgoing administration of former Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

In his judgment, Akanbi averred that the conduct of the election that produced the 22 local government council chairmen was not only illegal but an affront on the court because the matter was pending in court, noting that RSIEC and the state government were directed not to go ahead with the election but the order of court was fragrantly disobeyed.

The election was conducted by the Professor Augustine Ahiazu-led defunct Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC).

This was as an explosion suspected to be dynamite rocked the Federal High Court complex, located along Station Road, Port Harcourt, shortly before the commencement of sittings.

Though no life was lost, one person was reported injured as a result of the blast, which caused pandemonium in the court complex, forcing people to run out of the complex for their lives.

However, normalcy returned to the complex, and various judges resumed sitting, following the deployment of heavily armed security operatives, including the Police, the Army, the Department of State Security (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) teams.

Read also: Rivers LG chairmen protest planned move to sack them

Justice Akanbi’s ruling followed a suit by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) urging the INEC not to release the Voter’s Register to RSIEC for the conduct of the local government election.

Meanwhile, the embattled 22 local government chairmen in the state, under the auspices of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Rivers State chapter yesterday withdrew the suit they filed before the Federal High Court, against Governor Nyesom Wike, and the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The local government chairmen had approached the court, seeking an injunction to restrain the state lawmakers and Wike from dissolving them, insisting that dissolving the democratically elected local government council will be contrary to Section 7 of the Amended 1999 Constitution.

They also sought for an injunction restraining the Accountant-General and the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission from releasing any fund meant for the local government council to any person or body other than the democratically elected council chairmen in Rivers State

 

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