The government of Enugu State has announced a new date for the local government elections in the state.
The elections were initially planned for February 24, to October 2024.
However, barely a month before the scheduled council polls, the government announced via an official statement released on Wednesday night by the Chairman of the State Independent Electoral Commission, Mike Ajogu, SAN, that the election will now be held at a later date.
Ajogu explained that the postponement of the schedule was in response to a court order, which required the commission to modify its original guidelines and timetable published in the official gazette of Enugu State on September 26, 2023. According to him, the elections will now be conducted on October 5, 2024.
“The postponement was pursuant to a High Court Enugu State judgment delivered by his lordship Justice C. O. Ajah in the case of Action Alliance vs Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission in suit no E/682/2023.
The Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission has been ordered to make the following adjustment to its original guideline and timetable published in the official gazette of Enugu State and dated September 26 2023.
“The Enugu State Local Government Election 2024, originally scheduled for February 24, has been shifted to October 5 2024,” he said.
the postponement was criticized by an electoral commission official who spoke to journalists on Wednesday, stating that it was driven by political motives, contradicting the chairman’s statement.
The official emphasized that the commission should have provided a 360-day notice as required by law rather than the 120-day notice it actually gave.
“The court said we must follow the Independent National Electoral Commission guideline; that we cannot use a different guideline other than that of INEC, even though we have been using the local government law,” the official reportedly said.
The official said there may likely be an appeal, but “that is not for us, it’s left to the state government to decide”.
