Appeal Court affirms nullification of Ebonyi LG polls

The Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu on Thursday, May 15, upheld the nullification of the local government elections conducted in Ebonyi State, affirming an earlier ruling that declared the exercise invalid. The appellate court set aside a 2022 judgment delivered by Justice R. O. Riman of the Federal High Court Abakaliki, ruling in favour of the respondents who had challenged the legality of the elections. Delivering the lead judgment, Justice Joseph Ekanem dismissed all three appeals brought by the Ebonyi State Government, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), and the affected local government chairmen. The appellants had sought to overturn the Federal High Courts earlier decision which nullified the July 2022 local government elections in the state. According to the Court of Appeal, the judgment in FHC/AI/CS/224/2022, which the Appellants challenged on appeal, was meant to enforce compliance with the earlier judgment in FHC/AI/CS/151/2022 contrary to the argument of the appellants. The court emphasized that the original judgment remained valid and legally binding. In dismissing the appeals, the court ruled that the appellants introduced too many issues for determination, which led to an incompetent brief of argument. In the case with Appeal Number CA/E/381/2022: Hon Nwogba Ebere Oboh & 12 others versus Otu Collins Eleri and 12 others, the court found no merit in the arguments presented. Similarly, in the second appeal CA/E/176/2023: CBN v. Otu Collins Eleri and 22 others, the court held that while the release of local government funds from the Federation Account could not be stopped, the funds must not be spent by individuals who were not validly elected. The third appeal, CA/E/266/2023: the Governor of Ebonyi State & Two others versus Otu Collins Eleri and 22 others, was also dismissed. The court maintained that the ruling in Suit No. FHC/AI/CS/151/2022, which had nullified the elections held on July 30, 2022, was still valid and subsisting.The post Appeal Court affirms nullification of Ebonyi LG polls appeared first on Linda Ikeji Blog.