Uzodinma suspends Imo council polls, set to appoint interim committees

The Governor of Imo State, Hope Uzodinma, has cancelled the State Local Council polls, earlier scheduled to hold on September, 26, across the 27 LGAs in the state, even as he is set to appoint Caretaker Committees to run the affairs of the Councils.

The cancellation of the election followed the recent amendment of Local Government Laws by the State House of Assembly, which empowered the Governor to appoint an Interim Management Committee, IMC.

The leader of the House, Kanayo Onyemaechi, said the proposed amendment was intended to prevent a vacuum in the Local Council administration after the expiration of the tenure of the current leaderships by September 30.

Onyemaechi added that the proposed Interim arrangement could last for the period of six months before another electoral exercise in the Council Areas.

Earlier, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in the state had filed a suit at the High Court in Owerri, challenging the proposed LGA polls as scheduled by the State Independent Electoral Commission, ISIEC.

Reacting to the development, a legal practitioner, Patrick Obiajunwa condemned the move to appoint the Caretaker Committees for the running of Council administrations.

He cited the Supreme Court judgement of July 11, 2024, between the Attorney General of the Federation and that of Abia State, in which the Apex Court reaffirmed the Constitutional status of the Local Government Councils.

Obiajunwa hinted that the Court specifically rejected the use of Caretaker Committee or similar unelected leaderships to run the Council Areas.

He added that under section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution, LGAs administration are required to be manned by democratically elected officials.

“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?” he asked.