The Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, has cancelled the local government elections scheduled for Saturday, September 26, across the state’s 27 local government areas.
The cancellation comes days before the expiration of the tenure of the current elected council officials, with the state government expected to constitute interim management committees to oversee the affairs of the councils.
The development followed an amendment to the state’s local government laws by the Imo State House of Assembly, giving the governor powers to constitute an Interim Management Committee for the councils.
The House Leader, Kanayo Onyemaechi, said the amendment was aimed at avoiding a leadership vacuum when the tenure of the incumbent council administrations expires on September 30.
Onyemaechi explained that the proposed interim arrangement could remain in place for up to six months, after which fresh elections would be conducted in the affected local government areas.
The planned council poll had already generated legal controversy, with the All Progressives Grand Alliance filing a suit at the Imo State High Court in Owerri to challenge the election as announced by the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission.
Reacting to the latest development, a lawyer, Patrick Obiajunwa, criticised the proposed appointment of caretaker committees to administer the local government areas.
Obiajunwa referred to the Supreme Court’s July 11, 2024 judgment in the suit between the Attorney-General of the Federation and the Attorney-General of Abia State, arguing that the ruling reaffirmed the constitutional status of democratically elected local government administrations.
According to him, the apex court rejected the use of caretaker committees or other unelected arrangements to run local government councils.
He also cited Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which provides for a system of democratically elected local government councils.
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“The development automatically paves the way for the Governor to appoint whoever he likes to be members of the Interim Management Committee, but the legal questions still remain, what is the constitutional validity of the arrangement?” Obiajunwa asked.
The dispute is expected to keep the administration of Imo’s 27 local government areas in the spotlight as the September 30 expiration of the current councils’ tenure approaches.
