A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has thrown out a case filed by three dissatisfied members of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, against the party’s state chairman, Chukwuemeka Aaron, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, RSIEC, and the Rivers State Government.
Also listed as respondents were the chairmen, vice chairmen, and councillors of Obio-Akpor, Port Harcourt City, and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas.
The plaintiffs, Enyi Uchechukwu, Wisdom Kalio, and Uche Amadi, had asked the court to decide whether the Chukwuemeka Aaron-led state executive had the authority to submit candidates’ lists to RSIEC for the August 2025 local government elections, following an earlier judgment that invalidated the congresses that produced the executive.
In his ruling on Tuesday, Justice Stephen Jumbo dismissed the suit, stating that the court had no jurisdiction to hear the matter and that the plaintiffs lacked the legal standing to file it.
The judge further held that instead of interpreting the earlier judgment concerning Chukwuemeka Aaron, the applicants raised issues related to a pre-election matter, which had already exceeded the time allowed by law.
After considering the objections raised by the defendants, the court struck out the case and ordered the claimants to pay ten million naira as costs in favour of the defendants.
