The Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital, on Tuesday nullified the local government and councillorship elections conducted in July last year, which produced the current council chairmen and councillors in the state.
The court, presided over by Justice H.I.O. Oshomah, held that the July 2024 local government and councillorship elections in the state did not conform with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
It therefore voided and cancelled the said elections and directed the Ebonyi State Independent National Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) and the state government-who are the 2nd and 3rd respondents in the matter-not to conduct any further local government and councillorship elections in the state except in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution.
The court granted most of the reliefs sought by the counsels to the 1st plaintiff, Hamilton Ogbodo, and the 2nd plaintiff, Chief Mudi Erhenede, and also issued a consequential order on the matter.
Counsel to the 1st plaintiff, Samuel Udeogu, Mr. Hamilton Ogbodo, hailed the judgment, saying:
‘So, in effect, the local government election conducted in July 2024 in Ebonyi State is no longer valid; it has been cancelled by the Federal High Court today.
If the 2nd and 3rd defendants want to do what the law says, they should revert to status quo ante bellum and obey the court order. We are, however, waiting for them, as the time within which they can appeal this judgment is still running. Once it expires, we will know what to do.
We expect them to obey the court order. The local government chairmen have been sacked by the order of the court. The court has done exactly what the law requires because everything is clearly stated in black and white.
It is only when people refuse to obey the law that they try to interpret it to serve their own interests.’
On his part, Chief Mudi Erhenede, counsel to Isu Amaechi, who is the 2nd plaintiff in the matter, recalled that the Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki and presided over by the late Justice Fatun Rilman had earlier nullified the 2022 local government and councillorship elections, a judgment the state government failed to obey as it went ahead to swear in persons as elected council chairmen and councillors across the 13 local government areas and 171 wards of the state.
He noted that the 2nd and 3rd defendants had filed an appeal against Justice Fatun Rilman’s judgment, which they later lost after the appellate court upheld the earlier Federal High Court ruling.
‘This is simply a case of people who do not believe in or obey the rule of law. The Federal High Court nullified the 2022 local government election, yet the state, in defiance of that judgment, proceeded to swear in some persons as council chairmen,’ he said.
Erhenede commended Justice Oshomah’s ruling on the 2024 local government and councillorship elections and urged the court to make the certified true copy of the judgment available as soon as possible.