Edo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said it has instructed its legal team to commence contempt proceedings against the State’s Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) and the Attorney-General of Edo State, for the conduct of local government by-election across 59 wards.
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It would be recalled that an Edo State High Court sitting in Benin on Friday in suit, B/247M/2025, restrained EDSIEC and the State Government from going ahead with planned by-elections.
Justice Mary E. Itsueli, sitting as a vacation judge, granted the order following an ex-parte motion brought by the PDP through its counsel, Oluwole Osaze Uzzi, Michael Ekwemuka and P. W. Akwuen.
The applicants prayed the court for leave to apply for judicial review of EDSIEC’s decision to conduct by-elections in Edo to fill councillorship positions in the affected wards.
The party argued that the councillors’ tenures remain valid until September 2026, making any attempt to declare their seats vacant unlawful.
Justice Itsueli, who held that the applicants had shown sufficient grounds for the court to intervene, also referred the matter to the Chief Judge of Edo State for reassignment to a regular court, fixing September 30, 2025, for the return date.
However, EDSIEC went ahead to conduct the LG by-elections across the 59 wards in Edo, where the All Progressives Congress (APC) were the sole participant in the exercise, hence all were declared winners of the exercise by the electoral umpire.
Consequently, EDSIEC on Monday morning issued certificates of return to all the APC candidates that took part in the election as duly elected Councillors in the 15 Local Government Councils, where the councillors’ seats were earlier declared vacant by the state House of Assembly through a resolution passed.
Reacting to the development through a press statement issued by Hon. Chris Osa Nehikhare, Publicity Secretary, Edo State PDP Caretaker Committee, on Monday in Benin, condemned the conduct of elections, describing it as brazen illegality.
The statement read: “The Edo State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) unequivocally condemns the brazen illegality carried out on Saturday, September 20th, 2025, by the Chairman and members of the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC), acting in collusion with the Attorney-General of Edo State.
“Despite clear and subsisting orders of the Edo State High Court and the National Industrial Court restraining them from conducting any local government election, they defiantly went ahead to stage a sham exercise and, in reckless disregard for the law, are purportedly preparing to declare winners for the elections.
“This act is nothing short of contemptuous, a direct assault on the judiciary, and a calculated attempt to plunge Edo State into lawlessness. The deliberate disobedience of lawful court orders by public officers who swore to uphold the Constitution is shameful, irresponsible, and cannot go unpunished.
“Accordingly, the Edo PDP has instructed its legal team to immediately commence contempt proceedings against the Chairman and members of EDSIEC, as well as the Attorney-General of Edo State, for their willful disobedience of valid court orders. They must be held personally accountable before the law.”
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