Court nullifies Ebonyi LGA election

By Adeleye Kunle

Yesterday, the Federal High Court in Abakaliki ruled that the Local Government Area election conducted by the Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission, EBSEIC, in the state was invalid.

The election, which was held on July 30, 2022, caused many ripples and disagreements among opposition political parties, who claimed that the election was held without following due process of law and the provisions of the new Electoral Act, 2022.

Otu Collins Eleri, Nelson Eze, Alaa Ikechukwu, Michael Ali, and Isu Amechi were the plaintiffs in the case, while the defendants included the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission, and the government of Ebonyi State.

In suit No. FHC/AI/CS/151/2022, the Presiding Judge, Fatun Riman, ruled that the conduct of the Ebonyi local government election was undemocratic and unlawful, and thus declared it null and void.

Mudi Erenede, the Plaintiffs’ Counsel, told reporters that “it is undemocratic and unlawful to conduct an election into local government areas or council elections without providing the plaintiffs with the exact law that is meant to regulate the exercise.”

“There are a lot of other issues that did not comply with the Electoral Act 2022,” he says.

“The electoral act 2022 stated that state commissioners’ procedures for conducting elections into local government areas must comply with that procedure for conducting elections into area councils in the FCT.”

“How do you access compliance without law if you conceal the law with which you want to conduct the election?” Isn’t it true that when you make the law public, we’ll know whether you followed it or not? How can you make laws while concealing them?

“My current position is that my clients demanded that this law be invoked. We were subject to the Freedom of Information Act. We wrote to EBSIEC, the House of Assembly, and INEC, all of whose responsibilities these bodies refused to provide with the law.” The State Government responded, arguing that “it is on record that none of the litigants’ grounds included nullification of the election, but the court bizarrely came up with such an order,” via Chooks Oko, the SA to Governor David Umahi on (Media & Strategy).

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