The Rivers State House of Assembly has given the chairman and commissioners of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) an extra 72 hours to show up after their original 48-hour deadline passed. The decision came during a Friday meeting in Port Harcourt, sparked by a request from lawmaker Enemi George. After discussion, the Assembly voted to push the deadline to Monday, March 10, giving RSIEC head Justice Enebeli and his team more time to appear.

The Assembly had planned to take a break earlier, but with this new deadline, Deputy Speaker Dumle Maol suggested they delay their recess to deal with the RSIEC officials. Speaker Martin Amaewhule also pointed out that Governor Siminalayi Fubara still hasn’t submitted the 2025 budget, even after a 48-hour ultimatum. Amaewhule said the Assembly will handle that issue later. RSIEC, meanwhile, hasn’t said anything about the situation.

Back on March 5, the Assembly first ordered RSIEC officials to appear, threatening arrests if they didn’t comply. This came after the Supreme Court canceled the October 5, 2024, local government election in Rivers State, setting August 9, 2025, as the date for a new one. The Amaewhule-led Assembly then decided to look into how the electoral chief handled the canceled vote.

Last Friday, the Supreme Court threw out the Rivers local government election in a ruling by Justice Jamilu Tukur. The court said the election broke the Electoral Act in major ways. Justice Tukur explained that RSIEC didn’t follow the rules properly, even keeping voter registration open after setting the election date. He added that the steps leading up to the election were rushed and ignored Section 150 of the Electoral Act, making the whole thing invalid.

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