The Legal Directorate of the Imo State National Campaign Council of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, has described the local government election scheduled for Saturday, November 14, 2026, as unconstitutional.
The party called on the Federal Government not to release funds to anyone who emerges from the exercise.
The NDC made the call on Thursday at a press briefing held at the Campaign Council Secretariat, 1 Upe Street, off MCC Road, Owerri.
The Director of Legal Services, Eze Eluchie, Esq., said the forthcoming election would not meet the requirements of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees a system of local government by democratically elected councils.
According to him, the administration of Governor Hope Uzodinma has, since January 2020, governed the local government areas through Directors of Administration and General Services (DAGS) and later Sole Administrators, arrangements he described as not envisaged by the Constitution.
He said the sole administrators, appointed in January 2022, remained in office until the September 2024 local government elections, and that upon the expiration of the two-year tenure of those elected in 2024 in September 2026, the governor again appointed DAGS to oversee the councils.
“What ISIEC appears to be planning is indeed a coronation of selected persons as chairmen and councillors and not a democratic election,” Eluchie said.
The NDC therefore urged the Federal Government to withhold all funds due to the 27 local government councils of the state from persons who emerge from the November 14 poll.
The party proposed that the funds be kept in interest-yielding accounts with the Central Bank of Nigeria and released only when proper democratic elections are held, while remedial measures are put in place to ensure payment of salaries to council workers.
Eluchie said similar steps had been taken in Osun and Lagos states, adding that it was imperative that the funds “do not get into the wrong hands.”
The party also accused the Imo State Signage and Advertising Agency, ISAA, of imposing “obnoxious, hefty and prohibitive” rates for campaign billboards and advertisements, which it said stifle opposition parties.
Eluchie disclosed that the party had, earlier on Thursday, sent a Request for Information under the Freedom of Information Act, FOIA, to the General Manager of ISAA, demanding proof of payment by any political party for signage and advertisement rates for political campaigns.
He said the request would reveal whether the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, paid for the multiple billboards and campaign posters it has placed across the state.
The NDC said it intends to challenge the rates in court if it is established that APC adverts were not paid for in line with the rates demanded by ISAA.
“The rates fixed by ISAA are tantamount to an infringement on the constitutionally enshrined freedoms of expression, freedoms of association, and rights to participate in governance,” Eluchie said.
He called for a level playing field for all political parties to safeguard democracy in Imo State.
As at press time, neither the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC), ISAA, nor the state government had responded to the allegations.
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