The Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has fixed November 5, 2025, to deliver a ruling that will determine the fate of local government chairmen elected under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the concluded council elections.
The presiding judge, Justice Stephen Jumbo, announced the date after listening to arguments from counsels representing both the claimants and the defendant, the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RISIEC), on whether the case was statute-barred and non-justiciable.
The suit was filed by Fubara Dagogo and eight others, who are members of the Chief Emeka Beke-led faction of the APC in Rivers State. The claimants are seeking a declaration that RISIEC is legally bound to accept the candidacies of 17 aspirants submitted to the commission on August 13, 2025, as the party’s authentic chairmanship candidates for the August 30, 2025, local government elections.
Also Read: FG’s Ogoni Cleanup Driving Social, Economic Transformation — Zabbey
They are also asking the court for a perpetual injunction restraining RISIEC from recognising or acting on the results of the APC primaries allegedly conducted on August 4, 2025, or any other date, insisting that those primaries were invalid and had been substituted by the party.
The claimants argue that their names were duly submitted to RISIEC through a letter dated August 7, 2025, and should be recognised as the legitimate APC candidates.
In their petition, the claimants also want the court to declare them the authentic winners of the 20 local government areas said to have been won by the APC, and to replace the current chairmen declared by RISIEC.
Justice Jumbo, after taking submissions from both sides, adjourned the matter to Wednesday, November 5, 2025, for ruling on the preliminary issues of statute-bar and jurisdiction.
