Report have emerged that Nyesom Wike, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Abuja, ordered the secret dissolution of the Special Court of Appeal.
This court had previously issued a favorable ruling regarding the Rivers State Local Government Elections. The decision to dissolve the panel came amidst a protracted political conflict between Wike and his former protégé, Siminalayi Fubara, who is the governor of Rivers State.
The panel, led by Justice Onyekachi Otisi, had upheld the elections conducted by Governor Fubara's administration, nullifying a previous Federal High Court judgment that prevented the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voters register to the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC).
The appellate court determined that the lower court lacked jurisdiction, as Section 28 of the Electoral Act pertains only to federal elections, governorships, and area council elections within the FCT, not local government elections.
Following this ruling, Governor Fubara sought to overturn another judgment that barred the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) from disbursing monthly allocations to Rivers State.
His legal team, led by Mr. Yusuf Ali, SAN, appealed to a new three-member panel of the appellate court, headed by Justice Hamma Barka, to set aside the High Court's order. The appeal was marked CA/ABJ/CV/1303/2024, with the governor arguing that the High Court's decision was made in bad faith.
In response to these developments, Wike reportedly reached out to senior judicial officers to disband the initial panel, which had ruled in favor of Fubara. A new panel was subsequently established to handle the matter from Abuja, where Wike's wife serves as a senior judge.
This move has been part of a broader political struggle involving the allocation of funds to Rivers State, with the Nigerian government initially halting the October monthly Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) revenue payment to the state, citing a court order. However, this decision was later reversed following a subsisting appeal.
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