A Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, has nullified the local government and councillorship elections that produced the current council chairmen in the state, describing the exercise as unconstitutional.

The court, presided over by Justice Hillary Oshomah, on Tuesday, voided the elections conducted by the Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) in July 2024, citing disobedience and non-compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

Justice Oshomah held that the polls failed to meet the requirements of the law and consequently directed EBSIEC and the Ebonyi State Government listed as the 2nd and 3rd respondents  to desist from conducting any further local government or councillorship elections except in full compliance with constitutional provisions.

The judgment granted most of the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs, Samuel Udeogu and Chief Mudi Erhenede, represented by counsels Hamilton Ogbodo and Isu Amaechi, respectively.

Speaking after the ruling, Ogbodo, counsel to the first plaintiff, hailed the decision, saying it reaffirmed the supremacy of the law.

“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,” he said.
“If the defendants want to do what the law says, they should revert to status quo ante bellum and obey the court order. We are waiting, because the time for appeal is still running, and when it expires, we will know what to do.”

He added that the ruling effectively sacked the local government chairmen, stressing that “the court has done exactly what the law says it should do.”

Also reacting, Mudi Erhenede, counsel to the second plaintiff, recalled that a Federal High Court in Abakaliki, presided over by the late Justice Fatun Riman, had similarly nullified the 2022 local government elections, a judgment the state government allegedly ignored by swearing in chairmen and councillors across the 13 local government areas and 171 wards.

Erhenede noted that appeals filed by the defendants against Justice Riman’s ruling were dismissed, as the Court of Appeal upheld the earlier decision.

“This is a question of people who don’t want to believe in or obey the rule of law,” he said. “The 2022 election was nullified, yet the state proceeded to swear in some persons as local government chairmen.”

He commended Justice Oshomah’s ruling on the 2024 election and urged the court to release a certified copy of the judgment promptly.