A Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State capital, on Thursday, nullified the July 30, 2022 local government elections held in Ebonyi State.
The judgment came barely a few days to the inauguration of the newly-elected council chairmen and councillors fixed for September 1, 2022.
The judgment was a sequel to a suit marked FHC/AI/CS/151/2022, filed by Otu Eleri and three others, challenging the conduct of the council elections.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission, and the government of Ebonyi State were listed as the first to third respondents in the suit.
The plaintiffs had prayed the court to, among other things, declare the election undemocratic and unlawful, having failed to comply with Section 150 of the Electoral Act 2022.
They contended that the government of Ebonyi State and the state electoral commission failed to avail them of the exact laws used to conduct the election.
Justice Fatun Riman, in his judgment, agreed with the plaintiffs and consequently nullified the exercise.
Recall that the All Progressives Congress announced it won all the chairmanship and councillorship positions in the election.
Counsel for the plaintiffs, Mudi Erhenede, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, on Thursday, hailed the judgment.
According to him, it is undemocratic and unlawful to conduct elections in the local government areas without availing the plaintiffs of the exact law that was meant to regulate the exercise.
Reacting, Governor David Umahi queried the grounds on which the judge nullified the elections since the plaintiffs never prayed the court to nullify the exercise.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Media and Strategy, Mr Chooks Oko, on Thursday, the governor, however, called for calm and urged the people of the state to go about their lawful business.
While expressing hope in the judiciary, Umahi said his lawyers would study the judgment to determine the best way forward.
