The Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, has nullified the July 2024 local government and councillorship elections that produced the state’s 13 council chairmen and councillors, declaring the process unconstitutional.
Delivering judgment on Tuesday, Justice H.I.O. Oshomah ruled that the Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) failed to comply with the provisions of the Electoral Act, rendering the polls invalid.
The court consequently voided the elections and barred both EBSIEC and the state government from conducting any further local government polls unless they strictly adhere to the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act.
The decision stemmed from a suit filed by two plaintiffs, Samuel Udeogu and Isu Amaechi, represented by their counsel, Hamilton Ogbodo and Chief Mudi Erhenede.
Reacting to the ruling, Ogbodo said the verdict had effectively dismissed all serving council chairmen and councillors in the state. “So, in effect, the local government election that was conducted in July 2024 in Ebonyi State is no more; it has been cancelled by this Federal High Court today,” he said, urging the state government to comply or risk contempt proceedings once the appeal window closes.
Erhenede described the ruling as a reaffirmation of the rule of law, recalling that the late Justice Fatun Riman had similarly nullified the 2022 local government elections — a judgment the state government ignored.
“This is a question of people who don’t want to believe in or obey the rule of law,” he said. “The Federal High Court had earlier nullified the 2022 local government elections, but the state, in defiance of that judgment, still went ahead to conduct and swear in chairmen in 2024. Today’s ruling has once again affirmed that illegality cannot stand.”
