Ebonyi govt, councillors disagree over court ruling on tenure elongation

Ebonyi State Government and serving councillors in the 171 wards in the 13 local government areas of the state have disagreed over the recent court ruling which annulled the recently held council elections in the state.

This is as the state government vowed to go ahead with the swearing-in of new councillors and chairmen for the councils and wards.

The state House of Assembly had reduced the tenure of council chairmen from three years to two years, paving the way for fresh elections in the councils.

But some members of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) had gone to court before the election seeking to stop it.

The plaintiffs, Otu Collins and four others in suit number FHC/AIICS/151/2022 argued that the tenure of the present chairmen and councillors has not expired.

Despite the pendency of the suit, the Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission (EBSIEC) went ahead to conduct the election. The elections would later hold on July 30, 2022, with the All Progressive Congress(APC) in the State winning all the positions.

The state government went ahead to plan the inauguration of the new chairmen and councillors for September 1st.

But the Federal High Court in Abakaliki on Thursday, August 25 quashed the elections when it held that the tenure of the present chairmen and councillors will expire next year.

Justice Fatun Riman in his ruling on the matter declared that “the tenure of office of Chairmen and Councilors in Local Governments of Ebonyi State is three years and that the tenure of the present crop of Chairmen and Councilors in Ebonyi State will expire in August 2023.”

He further restrained the state government from appointing caretaker Chairmen or Caretaker Committees to run the affairs of the councils.

“That the 3rd defendant (Ebonyi State government) lacks the vires, authority, enablement etc to appoint Caretakers, Caretaker Committees and/or anybody of persons by whatsoever name or nomenclature called that are unelected democratically to run, manage, superintend etc the
affairs of the 13 Local Government Areas of Ebonyi State,” he added.

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Meanwhile, the Chairman of the APC in the state, Stanley Emegha, publicly insisted that the 13 LGA chairmen and 171 ward councillors elected must be inaugurated on September 1, 2022, as earlier scheduled.

Mr Emegha while announcing the date for the inaugural ceremony, argued that the inauguration of the newly elected LG Chairmen and Councillors should be held following their successful election on July 30, 2022.

He said: “In view, of the successful conduct of Council polls in Ebonyi State on the 30th of July 2022, the National and Zonal Leadership of the All Progressives Congress Stakeholders), other Stakeholders, as well as the General public, are cordially invited to witness the epoch-making event which will signify a new era that will consolidate the giant developmental strides of our Governor, Engr Chief David Nweze Umahi.

“It is also gratifying to use this opportunity again to congratulate the newly elected Chairmen of the 13 local government Areas and 171 wards’ councillors as well as our great party, APC for sweeping the polls overwhelmingly,” he said.

He announced that the inauguration would be held by 10 am, at the Pa Ngele Oruta township stadium, Abakakili, Ebonyi State.

In a related development, Commissioner for Information, Uchenna Orji, while speaking on Channels TV on Tuesday, argued that the ruling did not annul the council election.

He also maintained that the court did not also order a stop to the swearing-in ceremony of the new council chairmen and councillors.