CJN summons judges over conflicting judgements in Rivers political crisis

The Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, has summoned multiple judges for questioning following conflicting rulings related to political cases in Rivers State. The CJN has also called in the chief judge of the federal high court for an inquiry scheduled for Tuesday.

A panel, established by the National Judicial Council (NJC) to investigate the matter, is set to be led by a former justice of the court of appeal alongside two heads of courts. The panel’s findings are expected to be submitted by the end of this week. Additionally, the chief judge of the Rivers State High Court has been summoned to appear before the NJC panel next week.

The summons follows formal complaints made to the NJC regarding contradictory rulings on the Rivers State local government area (LGA) elections. On September 4, a state high court ruled that the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) could proceed with the LGA elections using the 2023 voter register. Later, on September 30, a federal high court in Abuja countered this by barring the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voter register to RSIEC. The court further ordered the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and other security agencies not to provide security for the elections.

Despite these restrictions, Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara asserted that RSIEC would go ahead with the elections as planned, arguing that the court order did not prevent the exercise from proceeding. While INEC confirmed compliance with the federal court order and withheld the voter register, RSIEC maintained that it had already received the document from INEC in 2023.

RSIEC subsequently conducted council elections across the state’s 23 LGAs on October 5 amid tensions between former Rivers governor Nyesom Wike and his successor, Siminalayi Fubara.

The NJC’s investigation aims to address the inconsistencies in judicial rulings and restore clarity in the judicial process surrounding politically sensitive cases.