A Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, has nullified the election of all 13 local government chairmen and their councillors, declaring the July 2024 local government polls conducted by the Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) unconstitutional.
Delivering judgment on Tuesday, Justice H. I. O. Oshomah ruled that the elections failed to comply with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act.
He consequently voided and cancelled the exercise, ordering that no further local government election should be conducted in the state except strictly in accordance with the law.
The court granted most of the reliefs sought by the plaintiffs — Mr. Samuel Udeogu and Mr. Isu Amaechi — whose counsels, Hamilton Ogbodo and Chief Mudi Erhenede, argued that the election violated due process.
Speaking after the judgment, counsel to the first plaintiff, Ogbodo, hailed the ruling as a victory for democracy and the rule of law.
“The local government election conducted in July 2024 in Ebonyi State has been cancelled by the Federal High Court today,” he said. “If the state government and EBSIEC truly respect the law, they should return to status quo ante bellum and obey this judgment.
The local government chairmen have been sacked by the order of the court, and that is what the law demands.”
He added that although the defendants still had time to appeal, “we expect them to obey the court order. When that time lapses, we will know what next to do.”
Counsel to the second plaintiff, Chief Mudi Erhenede, recalled that the same court had in 2022 nullified a similar local government election in the state, a judgment the Ebonyi government ignored.
“The Federal High Court had nullified the 2022 local government and councillorship elections, but the state government went ahead to swear in the supposed winners,” Erhenede said.
“They even appealed the ruling and lost, yet continued to act in defiance of the judgment. This clearly shows a disregard for the rule of law.”
He commended Justice Oshomah for reinforcing the court’s earlier decision, describing the verdict as “a bold statement that impunity and lawlessness have no place in Nigeria’s democratic process.”
The judgment, which nullifies the tenure of all current council executives, affects the following 13 local government chairmen:
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