Federal High Court Nullifies 2024 Ebonyi Local Government Elections

The Federal High Court in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, on Tuesday annulled the July 2024 local government and councillorship elections that produced the state’s current 13 council chairmen and councillors.

Delivering the judgment, Justice H.I.O. Oshomah ruled that the Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) failed to conduct the elections in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, rendering the polls invalid.

The court ordered that no further local government elections should be conducted in Ebonyi State except in strict compliance with the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act.

The judgment followed a suit filed by two plaintiffs, Mr. Samuel Udeogu and Mr. Isu Amaechi, through their lawyers, Hamilton Ogbodo and Chief Mudi Erhenede, respectively.

Ogbodo, responding to the verdict, stated that the ruling effectively removed all serving local government chairmen and councillors from office. “In effect, the local government election 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 with the court’s decision or risk contempt proceedings once the appeal period closes.

Chief Erhenede noted that the ruling reaffirmed an earlier judgment by the late Justice Fatun Riman, which had nullified the 2022 local government elections—a decision the government had ignored before proceeding to swear in officials in 2024.

“This is a matter of people refusing to respect the rule of law,” Erhenede said. “The Federal High Court previously nullified the 2022 local government elections, yet the state went ahead with the 2024 elections. Today’s ruling reiterates that illegality cannot stand.”