By Onyekachi Eze
The scheduled plans of the Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha to conduct the Local Government elections have been foiled, following the Supreme Court verdict yesterday.
Okorocha had earlier this month, April 2018, made an official announcement of conducting the Chairmanship and Councillorship elections across the 27 Council Areas of Imo.
The governor’s announcement was however viewed by Imolites as coming at the late hours, judging the facts that he (Okorocha) has barely 1 year to serve the State, before handing over to another governor by 2019.
The case presided over by Justice Rhodes Vivour at the Supreme Court, Panel 1, yesterday advised the governor not to conduct any Local Government elections until pending court processes are concluded.
The court further warned the State Government against such conduct, stating that Government should not to do anything that will tamper with the status quo.
The case was therefore adjourned to December 3, 2018.
It would be recalled that the matter was between Barr. Enyinnaya Onuegbu and 26 others Versus the Governor of Imo State and 4 others.
While Barr. Ngozi Olehi brought to the attention of the Court, the Respondents plan to tamper with the subject matter before the court by seeking to conduct LGA elections, the Attorney General, Miletus Nlemadim and Rochas Okorocha’s lawyers were asked for date to respond to further affidavits.
Against this backdrop, aspirants jostling for either the Councillorship or Chairmanship positions on hearing the breaking news showed signs of disappointment, even though the Imo electoral umpire, ISIEC had toured round the 27 LGAs in sensitization.
Trumpeta Newspaper also gathered that Owelle Okorocha appears unsettled since the outburst of the Supreme Court verdict.
He was accused of plotting to use the botched elections in foisting statutory delegates for the 2019 general elections in favour of his son in-law, Uche Nwosu, which has been drawing the ires of Imolites.
Meanwhile, the Imo state government has stated that there is no existing Supreme Court order, restricting the Imo State Government from conducting the planned local government elections, with the time-table for the elections already published by the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission, ISIEC.
This clarification has become diametrically necessary following a false claim in circulation by some of the former local government chairmen, that the Supreme Court has given an order against the State Government stopping the local government elections scheduled by ISIEC.
That claim is totally false. There is no such order. And we challenge those behind the false claim to publish the said Supreme Court order with regard to the local government elections, for the public to see. And where they fail to publish the claimed Supreme Court order, they should cover their faces in shame.
To say the least, the local government elections will hold as fixed by the state electoral body. The public should disregard the falsehood that is been circulated by those who have no iota of concern for the state and her good people.
It should be stated here that the former chairmen have been in Court since 2011 to contest their sack and they lost at the High Court and also at the Appeal Court. And they are now at the Supreme Court. And the matter for which they appealed to the Apex Court has no bearing with the fixed local government elections.
Even at the Supreme Court, they have been battling to join some Ex-Councillors which they didn’t remember to join at both the Lower Court and at the Appeal Court. All the efforts of their lawyer to join the Ex-Councillors were frustrated by the Attorney – General and Commissioner for Justice in the state, Barrister Miletus Nlemedim.
The matter was adjourned to December 3, 2018, and has nothing to do with the planned local government elections. In other words, there is no Supreme Court order against the local government elections, and which means, the elections, will go on as scheduled.
