Outgoing local government chairmen in Imo State are lobbying party leaders and influential stakeholders in the All Progressives Congress (APC) to persuade Governor Hope Uzodimma to let them return to office following the postponement of the council elections.
The chairmen, whose tenure has become uncertain amid the delay, are reportedly seeking to stay on until fresh elections are held. Their push has opened a new dilemma over who will control the state’s 27 local government councils in the interim.
The Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC) had fixed September 26 for elections into 27 chairmanship positions and 305 councillorship seats. It later announced that the poll would not hold as scheduled, saying it was consulting political parties and other stakeholders before fixing a new date. No new date has been announced.
The postponement came amid a legal challenge. The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and four of its state officials filed a suit at the Imo State High Court, Owerri, challenging aspects of the process, including the validity of ISIEC’s notice and the timeline to the poll. The case, Suit No. HOW/1380/2026, is pending and has been adjourned to October 30. The court has not ruled on the substantive claims.
Commissioner for Information, Public Orientation and Strategy, Declan Emelumba, had said court processes contributed to the decision not to hold the polls. According to him, APGA and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) had both gone to court over the proposed poll. “No law-abiding government will proceed with such an election when two political parties are in court against its conduct,” he said, adding that the government would await the outcome of the court processes before fixing another date.
Amid the uncertainty, there is speculation that the State Government is making moves to appoint interim chairmen for the 27 councils, and that the State House of Assembly is considering amending the existing law to pave the way for such appointments. Neither the government nor the Assembly has publicly confirmed these reports.
Sources also indicate that the outgoing chairmen are pushing to be retained as interim chairmen. Some of them argue that their tenure should be extended, pointing to neighbouring Abia State, where the House of Assembly amended the local government law ahead of the November 2024 elections to give chairmen and councillors four years in office, up from the previous two. Imo’s local government chairmen serve two years.
With the timetable unsettled, the outgoing chairmen are turning the uncertainty into a political opening, placing Governor Uzodimma at the centre of a sensitive decision over how the councils will be run before the next election.
