The Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu has upheld a previous decision that nullified the local government elections held in Ebonyi State.
This ruling was delivered on Thursday, May 15, 2025, as part of a legal dispute involving the Ebonyi State Government, the Central Bank of Nigeria, and several local government chairmen.
The elections, which took place on July 30, 2022, had earlier been cancelled by Justice R.O. Riman of the Federal High Court in Abakaliki. That ruling declared the election invalid.
The judgment was challenged in three separate appeals, but all were struck out by the appellate court.
Justice Joseph Ekanem, who delivered the lead judgment, confirmed that the initial verdict by the Federal High Court remains in effect.
The court maintained that the ruling in suit number FHC/AI/CS/224/2022 was aimed at ensuring that an earlier judgment, FHC/AI/CS/151/2022, was obeyed.
The judges held that the appellants raised too many overlapping issues, which made their arguments weak and unclear.
In the first case, Hon. Nwogba Ebere Oboh and 12 others had filed an appeal against Otu Collins Eleri and others.
The court dismissed this appeal. In the second matter between the Central Bank of Nigeria and the same respondents, the appeal partly succeeded.
The court agreed that local government funds from the Federation Account should not be withheld.
However, it stated that those funds must not be controlled or used by individuals who were not properly elected.
The third appeal, filed by the Ebonyi State Governor and two others, also failed.
The court stressed that the ruling which nullified the 2022 local council elections was still in place and must be followed.
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