Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), has summoned some judges to address conflicting court rulings related to political cases in Rivers State.
Gatekeepers News reports that the chief judge of the Federal High Court is scheduled for questioning on Tuesday.
In response to formal complaints, the National Judicial Council (NJC) has established a panel to investigate these judges.
This panel will be led by a former Court of Appeal Justice, alongside two heads of courts. The chief judge of the Rivers State High Court is also expected to appear before the NJC panel next week.
The summons follows a legal dispute; on September 4, a high court in Rivers State ruled that the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) was permitted to conduct local government elections using the 2023 voter register. However, a subsequent ruling on September 30 by a federal high court in Abuja prohibited the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing this voter register to RSIEC.
The court also restricted the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies from providing security for the elections.
Despite this judicial conflict, the governor of Rivers State maintained that RSIEC would go ahead with the election, asserting that the court order did not impede the process.
Following this, INEC confirmed on October 2 that it had not released the voter register in adherence to the ruling. Conversely, RSIEC stated it had received a copy of the register from INEC earlier in 2023.
On October 5, the RSIEC successfully conducted council elections across the 23 local government areas in Rivers State, amid ongoing tensions between the former governor, Nyesom Wike, and his successor, Siminalayi Fubara.
