Court nullifies Ebonyi local government elections

The recently concluded local government elections in Ebonyi state was nullified on Thursday August 25, by a Federal High Court in Abakaliki, the state's capital. 

 Recall that Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC), Jossy Eze had announced that candidates of the All Progressives Congress won all the chairmanship and councillorship seats in the elections. 

 However ruling on the lawsuit filed by the Peoples Democratic Party which accused the electoral commission and the Ebonyi State Government of failing to comply with Section 150 of the Electoral Act 2022, among other infractions, Justice Fatun Riman held that the conduct of the election was undemocratic and unlawful and therefore declared it void.

 This is coming barely six days before the swearing-in of the newly elected council chairmen and councillors, which was billed to hold on 1 September. 

 Speaking on the development, Counsel to the PDP (plaintiff), Mudi Erhenedi said; “If you look at it, how do you access compliance without law if you hide the law with which you want to conduct the election. 

 “Is it not when you make the law public that we will know whether you complied with it or not, how can you be making laws and hiding them. 

 “My position now is that my clients demanded to be availed of this law (that guided the conduct of the election).” Mr Erhenedi added that the plaintiff had written to relevant authorities in the state, including members of the Ebonyi House of Assembly, raising concerns about the infractions in the conduct of the exercise.