COURT NULLIFIES EBONYI LG ELECTIONS, SACKS COUNCIL CHAIRMEN OVER ELECTORAL ACT VIOLATIONS
Read Time:1 Minute, 52 Second
By Aishat Momoh. O.
A Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, on Tuesday nullified the local government and councillorship elections conducted in July 2024, declaring the exercise unconstitutional and invalid.
Delivering judgment, the court held that the elections, which produced the current local government chairmen and councillors, were conducted in disobedience and non-compliance with the Electoral Act, and therefore could not stand.
The court also barred the Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) and the state government — listed as the 2nd and 3rd respondents — from conducting any further local government or councillorship elections except in accordance with constitutional provisions.
It granted most of the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs, represented by Samuel Udeogu (through his counsel, Hamilton Ogbodo) and Chief Mudi Erhenede, while issuing consequential orders to enforce the ruling.
Reacting to the judgment, Ogbodo hailed the decision, describing it as a victory for the rule of law.
“The local government election conducted in July 2024 in Ebonyi State is no longer valid; it has been cancelled by this Federal High Court today.
The local government chairmen have been sacked by the order of the court. The law is clear, and it has been followed to the letter,” Ogbodo said.
He added that the defendants still had the opportunity to appeal the judgment, but must, in the meantime, obey the court order and revert to status quo ante bellum.
On his part, Erhenede, counsel to the second plaintiff, commended the ruling of Justice Oshomah, noting that a similar judgment in 2022 by the late Justice Fatun Riman had also nullified earlier local government elections, which the state government ignored.
He recalled that although the defendants appealed Justice Riman’s ruling, the Court of Appeal upheld the Federal High Court’s decision, reinforcing the illegality of the elections.
“This judgment is another reaffirmation that no government or institution is above the law. The 2022 and 2024 elections were both illegal, and the state acted in defiance of existing court orders,” Erhenede said.
The court’s latest decision effectively sacks all current council chairmen and councillors across Ebonyi State’s 13 local government areas and 171 wards, pending fresh elections conducted in line with the Nigerian Constitution and Electoral Act.
Happy
0 %
Sad
0 %
Excited
0 %
Sleepy
0 %
Angry
0 %
Surprise
0 %
0
0