The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has affirmed that it will not list any All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate in Rivers State on the ballot paper.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja, Yakubu said the commission will abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court ruling which upheld the order of a Federal High Court, Port Harcourt.
“As for APC in Rivers, I think the Supreme Court has made a number of pronouncements on that matter and for that reason, the commission has taken its decision going by the judgement of the Supreme Court.
“And in our constitution, the Supreme Court is the last hunt for result for any citizen. And there must be an end for litigation as lawyers may say and once the Supreme Court makes a pronouncement, all agencies and authorities in the Federal Republic of Nigeria abide by the judgement of the Supreme Court.
“And so, the commission as a law abiding institution, will always abide by the judgement of courts so that is the situation for Rivers State. There’s nowhere else to go. We’ll go by the judgement of all courts, but when it comes to the Supreme Court, that is the end of all litigation,” he said.
It would be recalled that the Supreme Court had upheld the order of a Federal High Court, Port Harcourt, nullifying the APC primaries in Rivers State, holding that the primaries were held in disobedience to a court judgement barring the party from conducting congresses pending the determination of a suit filed by 22 aggrieved members of the party.
The court had set aside the ruling of the Court of Appeal, Port Harcourt, which in October 2018, upturned the interlocutory order of the High Court.
In a unanimous verdict by a five-man panel of justices, the Supreme Court said the judgement sought to be upturned was entered by consent and could not be appealed as a matter of right.
