The Imo State High Court has on Tuesday, 7th January issued an order restraining suspended elected Local Government Chairmen and Councillors from resuming duties.
After many unconfirmed reports that the state government has been mounting pressure on judges in the state over the supreme court order on the illegality on the suspension of LGA officials by governors, Justice Eze Ohiri Njemanze of the state High Court granted restraining order for the elected LGA officials to stay away from Council headquarters pending the determination of their original motion which will be heard on 28th of January, 2020.
The Attorney General of Imo State, Ndukwe Nnawuchi confirmed this after the state government succeeded in getting an order from the court.
Meanwhile, a pertinent question in the mind of many is whether this court order is not an abuse of the judiciary considering that the supreme court on 11th of December, 2019 stated that state governors and Houses of assembly do not have the power to suspend elected LGA officials and requested that the order be served on all state governors in the country.
Recall that on Monday, 6th of January, elected chairmen and Councillors of the 27 LGAs of Imo state went to their various offices to insist on the obedience of the supreme court ruling that suspended elected LGA officials should return to work.
The action of the elected officials who are mainly members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) led to a clash with supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state. The clash got violent in some LGAs, leading to many getting injured and the death of a councillor shot at Isu LGA.
