Rivers LG elections legitimacy questioned as court orders three council chairmen and officials to justify the validity of their polls

Justice Stephen Jumbo of the Rivers State High Court has ordered the Obio-Akpor, Port Harcourt City, and Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Councils, along with their chairmen, vice chairmen and councillors, to appear before the court and justify the legitimacy of their elections.

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Justice Stephen Jumbo issued the directive after granting an application that joined the Chairman of Obio-Akpor Local Government Area, Gift Worlu, and 59 others as the second set of respondents in a suit filed by three stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State.

The court subsequently adjourned the matter to March 17, 2026, for hearing.

Before adjourning, the judge approved an application for substituted service filed by the claimants’ counsel, Glory Chizim-Chinda. The ruling authorised that court documents be served at the Rivers State Secretariat of the Peoples Democratic Party located on Aba Road in Port Harcourt.

The claimants, Enyi Uchechukwu, Wisdom Kalio and Uche Amadi, are challenging the State factional chairman of the PDP, Aaron Chukwuemeka, alongside the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission, the PDP and the Rivers State Government over the nomination of party candidates for the last local government elections.

According to the claimants, the state executive committee led by Aaron Chukwuemeka lacked the authority to submit the list of candidates to the electoral commission because the election that produced the leadership had earlier been nullified by a Rivers State High Court.

The disputed candidates subsequently contested in the local government elections conducted by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission on August 30, 2025.

The claimants are asking the court to declare that the PDP ward, local government and state elective congresses held on July 27 and August 10, 2024, are null and void.

They further argue that Aaron Chukwuemeka, having emerged from the contested congresses, had no legal authority to organise party primaries or submit candidate lists for the council elections.

In addition, the claimants are seeking a perpetual injunction restraining the defendants or their representatives from interfering in the internal affairs of the PDP, including the nomination and presentation of candidates for elective positions.

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The case is expected to test the legality of the processes that produced several local government officials in Rivers State, a development that could carry significant political consequences if the court rules against the respondents.