A Federal High Court in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State on Thursday, nullified the local government elections recently conducted in the state.
The election was conducted by the the state Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) on 30 July.
EBSIEC chairperson, Jossy Eze declared the candidates of the All Progressives Congress as winners of all the chairmanship and councillorship seats.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) challenged the outcome of the exercise, accusing the electoral commission and the state government of failing to comply with Section 150 of the Electoral Act 2022, among other infractions.
Justice Fatun Riman held on Thursday that the conduct of the election was undemocratic and unlawful and therefore declared it void.
The development came a few days to the swearing-in of the newly elected council chairmen and councillors, which was billed to hold on 1 September.
Counsel to the PDP (plaintiff), Mudi Erhenedi, who spoke to reporters shortly after the ruling, commended the court for upholding justice in the state.
“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”, he said.
“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),” he added.
Erhenedi said the plaintiff had written to relevant authorities in the state, including members of the state House of Assembly, raising concerns about the infractions in the conduct of the exercise.
Counsel to the defendant, Roy Nweze did not respond to calls seeking comments from him on the ruling.
