Siminalayi Fubara, governor of Rivers, has asked elected local government chairpersons in the state to hand over to LGA administrators.

In a statewide broadcast on Sunday, Fubara said the LGA administrators will take over for fresh council elections to be conducted.

“Furthermore, given the outlawing of caretaker arrangements in the local government system, I hereby direct the heads of local government administration to immediately take over the administration of the 23 local government councils pending the conduct of fresh elections by the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission,” Fubara said.

On Friday, the supreme court nullified the local government election held in Rivers state on October 5, 2024.

The apex court overturned a previous judgment delivered by the court of appeal in Abuja on November 21, 2024, which upheld the election results.

In its lead judgment delivered by Jamilu Tukur, the apex court held that there was no evidence to show that the conditions set out in section 150(3) of the Electoral Act had been met before the state electoral commission conducted the polls.

On September 30, 2024, Peter Lifu, a federal high court judge, stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from releasing the voter register to RSIEC.

The judge also restrained the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) and other security agencies from providing security during the polls.

However, a special panel of the court of appeal led by Onyekachi Otisi ruled that the lower court lacked jurisdiction to hear the case.

The panel held that matters relating to LG elections should not have been brought before the high court.