Chidi Samuel
A federal high court in Abuja on Tuesday ordered the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to halt the collation and announcement of the result of the March 9 election in Rivers state.
The order followed a suit filed by the African Action Congress (AAC) asking the court for an order of interim injunction restraining INEC from resuming, collating or announcing the results of the suspended elections in Rivers.
Justice Iyang Ewa, a member of the panel which presided over the suit while ordering INEC to halt its scheduled resumption of the announcement of the results, also directed the electoral umpire to appear before the court on Friday for the hearing of the suit.
The judge also ruled that the court would give its final order after it concludes the suits brought before it by the plaintiffs.
Earlier, INEC, through its lawyer, Ransome Uwa, (SAN), had approached the court with a motion challenging its jurisdiction.
It will be recalled that INEC shortly the governorship and state assembly election suspended all collation processes in the state following what it called the invasion of its collation centres by soldiers and armed thugs.
But over the weekend the commission announced that it will proceed with the collation and announcement of the results on a yet to be announced date.
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