By 
Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State says he relied on the legal opinion of the Attorney General of the State and Commissioner for Justice based on the provisions of the country’s extant laws to swear in the thirteen Local Government Chairmen in the state.
He stated this during the inauguration of the Chairmen and their Deputies, as well as Local Government Advisory Committee and Special Assistants to the Governor at Pa Ngele Oruta Township Stadium Abakaliki.
Although the swearing in ceremony at Pa Ngele Oruta Township Stadium attracted people from all walks of life, the controversy trailing the exercise following the nullification of the state local government election by a Federal High Court sitting in Abakaliki was on the front burner at the event.
Governor Umahi noted that the Chairmen were sworn in obedience to the extant laws and the provisions of Nigeria’s Constitution and emphasised that the tenure of Local Government Chairmen in the state remained two years.
He directed the Local Government Chairmen to swear in newly elected 171 Councillors at their various Council headquarters, emphasising that the state government was committed to sustaining democratic governance at the grassroots.
The Attorney General of the State, Mr. Cletus Ofoke, had while offering his legal opinion on the propriety of the process, remarked that the state government would not allow vacuum to exist at the Council Headquarters considering that the out gone Chairmen informed the state Governor that their tenure had expired.
He emphasised that the decision of the out gone Local Government Chairmen was in line with section 18 sub section 1 of Ebonyi State Electoral and Related Matters Amendment Law 001 of 2020, claiming that the judgment of the Federal High Court Abakaliki did not nullify the 2022 Local Government Election.
The State Government also used the occasion to launch the state NG Cares Empowerment programme worth over two point six billion Naira. (FRCN)
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