Ebonyi councilors blast APC Chairman as Court nullifies council election

The chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Ebonyi State, Stanley Okoro Emegha and the outgoing Councilors in the 171 political wards in the state have traded words over the nullification of the local government areas election conducted on 25th August 2022.

It gathered that the current 171 ward Councilors who hail from the 13 LGA’s of the state had vowed to stand with the Federal High Court judgement delivered by Justice Fatun Riman wherein the election that produced the new 13 LGA chairmen and another 171 Councillors were nullified.

Recall that the state government had in its amended electoral law of 001 of 2020, reduced the tenure of office of local government chairmen and councillors from three (3) years to two (2) years.

But, Justice Fatun Riman of the Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki capital of Ebonyi State, in his ruling insisted that the tenure of office of Council Chairmen and Councillors remains three (3) years and that the tenure of office of the current chairmen and councillors will expire, August; 2023.

Based on the ruling, the 171 ward Councilors, who are still being owed severance allowances and other benefits as serving executives of their respective Local Government Areas, endorsed the elongation of the tenure of the present Council bosses till August 31, 2023.

The Councillors in a statement signed by Eze Gilbert Chikwado and Frank Alo Ikpor from Ebonyi central senatorial zone, Nwangwu Franklin and Mbam Udoka from Ebonyi North Senatorial zone, Nnachi Chima and Uuzoma Ezechukwu from Ebonyi south, senatorial zone, etc, tasked Ebonyi State Government to accept the judgement of the court.

In a swift reaction, the chairman of APC, Stanley Okoro Emegha berated the Councillors for backing the nullification of the local government areas election conducted by the Ebonyi State Independent Electoral Commission, EBSIEC, by the Federal High Court.

Emegha noted that the serving councillors, who claimed to be members of APC did not follow due process as encapsulated in their legal document before coming up with the publication, hence “no one gives what he doesn’t have. Lawyers will always say “Nemo dat quod no habet”.

According to him, “The said Judgement has since been quashed by another court of coordinate jurisdiction through an Ex-parte order obtained by the genuinely elected officials at the July 30th council polls in the state. In the eyes of the law, the latest judgement has rendered the previous ineffective, hence the inauguration will go on as planned” he stated.