Supreme Court halts LG elections in Imo

Plans by Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State to conduct local government elections in Imo state next June suffered a major setback as the Supreme Court, Monday, ordered a stop on the planned election so as not to destroy the substance of a suit still pending before it.

Adjudicating a suit challenging powers of the governor to dissolve duly elected local government administration, Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour, ordered that nothing should be done by the Imo state governor to tamper with the issue until it was resolved.

The judge noted that it was wrong for the governor to have gone ahead to plan local government elections while a suit challenging his powers to dissolve the last elected council administration in the state was still pending.

The order became necessary after Barr. Ngozi Olehi, counsel to the past local government chairmen, listed as Enyinna Onuegbu and 26 others, complained to the court that Gov. Okorocha has plans to conduct local government election in June despite the matter being adjourned to December 12, 2018 for the State government to respond to a further affidavit brought by the sacked council chairmen.

Responding to the information, Justice Rhodes-Vivour warned Gov. Okorocha against any action that would tamper with the main issue in the suit.

It would be recalled that Okorocha had on June 6, 2011, dissolved the local government administration which was constituted by his predecessor, Ikedi Ohakim, following an election conducted by the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) in the state.

The election, which held in October 2011, legitimately brought 27 chairmen and 307 councilors into office after they were inaugurated publicly and without encumbrances on August 8. There is no record of any legal issues against the conduct of the election.

In dissolving the elected administration nine months into a three-year tenure, Okorocha refused to pay-off all the local government chairmen and councilors affected. He also refused to pay them salaries for the last two months of their stewardship.

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He had argued that the election that brought them into office was held hurriedly in the twilight of the Ohakim administration.

He also rebuffed entreaties by well-meaning individuals in the state to rescind his decision not to pay off the chairmen and councilors.

However, all the affected officials took the bold step to challenge his action in court. In the matter, the chairmen and councilors also asked the court to determine if the governor had powers to dissolve an elected administration at the local government level. They also asked the court to determine if by the governor’s act, their tenure of office had elapsed.

They also asked the Imo state High Court for an order reversing the dissolution and an order reinstating them to their jobs. They also sought a consequential order to pay them all their unpaid salaries and allowances.

The chairmen and councilors were however disappointed by the state high court which upheld the governor’s action. But undaunted, the victims of Okorocha’s action escalated the matter to the Court of Appeal which upheld their appeal and ordered that they be reinstated.

Rather than obey the order of the Court of Appeal, Gov. Okorocha employed the services of members of the Imo Security Network (the state’s vigilante service) and used same to prevent the reinstated chairmen and councilors from gaining access to their offices.

After a stand-off that lasted several weeks, Okorocha ordered withdrawal of the vigilante guards and allowed the reinstated chairmen and councilors access to their office. He however withheld allocations to the local governments, and refused to pay the chairman and councilors as ordered by the court.

As the chairmen and councilors attempted to re-ignite their offices for work, Okorocha struck again and announced the sack of the chairmen and councilors. He argued that their tenure had lapsed and as such forced them out of office. In their stead, he appointed caretaker committees.

But the chairmen and councilors argued that their office was yet to elapse as the interruption by the governor ought to be recovered, and also insisted that they must be paid their salaries and allowances for the period that Okorocha kept them away from office illegally. As expected, Okorocha did not bulge.

Following the new twist, the chairmen and councillors approached the Supreme Court. They asked the apex court to determine their tenure in the light of the interruption which was forced on them by what they described as Okorocha’s disregard for the constitution.

 

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