The Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has thrown out a lawsuit brought by three aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who wanted the court to invalidate the party’s chairmanship candidates from the previous local government elections.
The PDP had emerged victorious in the council polls across Port Harcourt City, Obio-Akpor, and Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni local government areas of the state.
The legal action specifically targeted the removal of the serving council chairmen, namely Allwell Ihunda of Port Harcourt City, Dr. Gift Worlu of Obio-Akpor, and Chukwu Ogbodo of Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni.
The plaintiffs had dragged the State Chairman of the PDP, Aaron Chukwuemeka, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC), the Rivers State government, alongside the affected chairmen, their deputies, and councilors before the court.
In their originating summons, the claimants—Enyi Uchechukwu, Wisdom Kalio, and Uche Amadi—had asked the court to decide whether the Chukwuemeka-led state executive could legally submit a list of candidates to RSIEC for the August 2025 local government elections, citing a previous court judgment delivered against their emergence.
However, the presiding judge, Justice Stephen Jumbo, dismissed the suit for a lack of jurisdiction, ruling that the claimants lacked the locus standi to institute the case.
He noted that the matter was a pre-election case that was already statute-barred, subsequently upholding all preliminary objections filed by the defendants and awarding a ₦10 million fine against the claimants.
