Court sacks Ebonyi council chairmen

From Uchenna Inya, Abakaliki

The Federal High Court in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, yesterday, 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 by Justice H.I.O. Oshomah held that the July 2024 local government and council elections did not conform with the provisions of the electoral act.

It, therefore, voided and cancelled the local government and councillorship elections and asked the Ebonyi State Independent National Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) and the state government, the second and third respondents, not to conduct further local government and councillorship elections  except in line with the provisions of the constitution.

The court, which granted most of the reliefs sought by counsel to the first plaintiff, Hamilton Ogbodo and second plaintiff, Chief Mudi Erhenede, granted consequential order on the matter.

Ogbodo, counsel to the first plaintiff, Samuel Udeogu hailed the judgement.

“So, in effect, the local government election that was conducted in July 2024 in Ebonyi State is no longer there; it has been cancelled by this federal high court today.

“If the second and third defendants want to do what the law says they should do, they should revert to status quo ante bellum and then obey the court order but we are waiting for them because the time within which they can appeal this judgement is still running and when 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 says it should do because these things are in black and white.

“It is when you don’t want to obey the law, you now read it the way you want so that it can serve your own goals,” he said.

On his part, counsel to Isu Amaechi, who is second plaintiff in the matter, Mudi Erhenede, said the federal high court presided by Justice Fatun Rilman had nullified the 2022 local government and council elections. He noted that despite the court’s nullification, the state government didn’t obey but went ahead to swear-in people as elected council chairmen and councillors across the 13 local governments and 171 wards in the state.

He noted that the second and third defendants appealed against Justice Rilman, but they lost.

“This is a question of people who don’t want to believe in the rule of law and obey the rule of law.

“The federal high court nullified the local government election conducted in 2022 and the state, in defiance to that judgement, proceeded to swear-in some persons as local government chairmen.”

He hailed Justice Oshomah ruling yesterday on the 2024 local government and council elections in the state and urged the court to make available the judgment within the shortest possible time.