The Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, has nullified the local government and councillorship elections held in July 2024, which produced the current council chairmen and councilors across the 13 local government areas and 171 wards of the state.
Delivering judgment on Tuesday, the presiding judge, Justice H.I.O. Oshomah, declared that the elections were conducted in clear violation of the provisions of the Electoral Act, thereby rendering the entire process unconstitutional and invalid.
The court consequently voided and cancelled the elections and issued an order restraining the Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) and the Ebonyi State Government — the 2nd and 3rd respondents — from conducting any further local government or councillorship elections except in full compliance with the Nigerian Constitution and the Electoral Act.
Justice Oshomah also granted most of the reliefs sought by the counsels to the plaintiffs — Hamilton Ogbodo and Chief Mudi Erhenede — including consequential orders compelling the restoration of lawful processes in the conduct of local elections in the state.
Reacting to the judgment, Hamilton Ogbodo, counsel to the 1st plaintiff, Samuel Udeogu, hailed the court’s decision as a victory for democracy and the rule of law.
“In effect, the local government election conducted in July 2024 in Ebonyi State is no longer valid — it has been cancelled by this Federal High Court today,” Ogbodo said.
“If the 2nd and 3rd defendants want to do what the law requires, they should revert to status quo ante bellum and obey the court order. We expect them to comply because the time for appeal is already running, and when it expires, we’ll know the next step to take.”
He further emphasized that the court had acted strictly in accordance with the law, adding:
“The local government chairmen have been sacked by order of the court. The court has done exactly what the law says it should do because the provisions are clear — it is only when people refuse to obey the law that they try to twist it to serve their interests.”
Also speaking, Chief Mudi Erhenede, counsel to the 2nd plaintiff, Isu Amaechi, recalled that a similar case had been decided in 2022 by the Federal High Court in Abakaliki, then presided over by the late Justice Fatun Rilman, who nullified that year’s local government elections.
According to him, despite the court’s ruling in 2022, the state government ignored the judgment and proceeded to swear in persons as chairmen and councilors across the state.
“This is a clear case of people who have no regard for the rule of law. The Federal High Court nullified the 2022 local government election, yet the state, in defiance of that judgment, went ahead to swear in officials,” Erhenede said.
He revealed that the state government had appealed Justice Rilman’s judgment but lost, as the higher court upheld the earlier ruling.
“Today’s judgment by Justice Oshomah reaffirms the supremacy of the law. It is another clear message that impunity cannot stand. We hope the certified true copy of the judgment will be made available soon,” he added.
The ruling has effectively terminated the tenure of all serving local government chairmen and councilors in Ebonyi State, marking another chapter in the ongoing legal battle over the legitimacy of grassroots governance in the state.
