The controversies rocking the forthcoming October 5 local government elections in Rivers State continued on Wednesday as the Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC) disagreed with the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RISIEC) over voters’ register.

INEC made it clear that it had never released the voter register to RISIEC in compliance with the judgement of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja.

INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Rivers State, Dr. Johnson Alalibo Sinikiem, said there was no truth in the claim by RISIEC that it got the register from INEC.

Speaking in Port Harcourt, Dr. Sinikiem explained that INEC’s tradition had been to provide the voters register to RSIEC before local government elections as mandated by the law.

But he said such tradition was encumbered by the orders from the High Court.

Sinikiem noted though, that INEC had received two requests from RISIEC for the voter register, but could not comply with it because the court’s judgment tied the hands of the commission.

He clarified that INEC’s Department of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) was in charge of the register in soft copies.

He said certified photocopies of the register would have been sent to RISIEC but insisted that no such document had been handed over to the state’s umpire.

Sinikiem said: “The tradition of the commission is that before an election for state at the local government the only responsibility that we have is to give them voters’ register because we are empowered to maintain and keep voters’ register for the country.

“However, to make it very clear, the RSIEC has written to us about two times for release of the register but we have not released before we received from our headquarters an order from a Federal High Court restraining INEC from releasing the registers.

“So until now, we have not officially handed over the Rivers state voters’ register to RSIEC. We have not, the ICT department housed the voter register.

“And voters register is in soft copy and it is in two ways, either we give it to them in soft copy, we photocopy it both black and white and coloured then we stamp certified through copy.

“But we have not given them, there is no register in our office that will show that we have handed over such document to them. But they have written.”

Speaking on the court orders, Sinikiem said that he had received only one court order from the INEC Headquarters in Abuja.

He confirmed that the headquarters only sent the Federal High Court order to his office demanding compliance adding that he was unaware of a separate state High Court order.

Sinikiem said:  “I have the one of the Federal High Court from Abuja which was sent to me by my headquarters directing me to comply with the court order. I have not seen another court order from the state High Court.

“Well it is administrative, it not that we withheld it, but when the RSIEC request, they have to come for the processes, they have not come to conclude the processes before we got the court order. We have not released it”.

INEC’s position came a day after the Emeka Beke-led All Progressives Congress (APC) wrote to the commission and gave reasons why the federal High Court’s order could not stop the forthcoming local government election.

Beke had explained in his letter that by virtue of the judgement that sacked Tony Okocha as the caretaker committee chairman of the APC, the suit he instituted had become defective since he acted as an impostor.

He also told INEC that the APC was participating in the elections and that the suit, that birthed the judgement was unknown to the party.

INEC’s position also contradicted the statement by the Chairman of RSIEC, Justice Adolphus Enebeli, who on the 26th of September, said that RISIEC had already received the voters’ register from INEC before the litigation.

Enebeli had said: “In the 6th Commission under my charge we are very proactive. A wise man can never be taken unawares.

“We (RSIEC) are proactive, we follow due process. Even before the cases went to court we have liaised with INEC, and the correspondences are there. That is it. It is the gift of patience and planning.

“I’m not a last-minute man. I plan ahead. And so all these things were concluded since last year the correspondences are there.

“The display of register will be carried out in all the 6, 866 polling units in the 23 local government areas of Rivers State.”

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, recently stormed RISIEC head office in Port Harcourt and insisted that nothing should stop the electoral process.

After confirming from Enebeli that the commission was ready for the poll, the governor vowed to deal with anybody attempting to truncate the exercise.

Fubara said: “Our election will hold on the 5th of October, 2024. I’m aware that RISIEC told me that they already had an order mandating them to conduct the election on the 5th of October 2024, and the security agencies to support them.

“So, I think with that order, the election will hold. I might not be a lawyer but I know there is something they call first-in-hand, and since they have the first-in-hand, we will give them all the necessary support for that election to be conducted. And it will be one of the best elections ever conducted free and fair in this State.

“What is important to me is the interest of Rivers state that it has to be alive. It doesn’t belong to anybody. I don’t care who nominated you but do the right thing that is what is important to me, because if we make a mistake today, it is going to live with us forever.

“Nobody has a right to come here. This is the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission. It belongs to Rivers State, and I am the Governor. So, if there is anything, let me know, I will come here myself.”

Fubara referred to the orders of the state High Court, which recently mandated RISIEC, the state government, and the state governor to conduct the election in a suit filed by the All Peoples Party (APP).

In the order issued by the presiding Judge, L.P.C Igwe, the court said in line with section 7 sub-section 1 of the Constitution, the state government and Fubara was bound to make adequate provisions for the elections to ensure that the affairs of the local government councils in the state were conducted by democratically elected officials.

The judge said in view of section 7, sub-section 1, Section 5A of RISIEC, Law number 2 of 2018; the decision of the Supreme Court of July 11th, 2024, and the expiration of the tenure of the former democratically elected local government councils in Rivers State on June 17th, 2024, the defendants were bound to conduct the poll.

The judge insisted that the elections must be conducted in the shortest possible time to comply with the judgement of the apex court.

In view of the Supreme Court judgement and all the cited provisions of the Constitution and RISIEC Law, the court ruled that RISIEC was entitled to use the national register of voters for the 2023 general elections compiled by INEC and already in the custody of RISIEC to conduct the poll.