Concerned Citizens of Edo State
On July 11, 2026, the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC) is proposed to conduct local government elections across the state.
We submit, without equivocation, that proceeding with this election constitutes a direct violation of a valid and subsisting order of the National Industrial Court, Benin Division, and a dangerous assault on the rule of law in Edo State and therefore call on the State Government and EDSIEC to immediately suspend the proposed election.
The Court Order
On July 22, 2025, Hon. Justice A. A. Adewemimo of the National Industrial Court, Benin Division, issued a clear and binding interim order in Suit No. NICN/B/03/2025.
The suit was filed by the former EDSIEC Chairman, Hon. Justice James Uyi Oyomire (rtd.), and six other duly appointed commissioners, who are challenging their unlawful dissolution by Governor Monday Okpebholo on December 17, 2024.
The court’s order, which is unequivocal and binding on all parties, states that “parties should refrain from any further action that will render the decision of Court in this case meaningless or nugatory until a decision is entered in this case.”
Justice Adewemimo affirmed the settled principle of law that “parties must not engage in acts capable of rendering a court’s decision nugatory” .
The Violation
Despite this subsisting order, the Edo State Government, through the newly constituted EDSIEC under the chairmanship of Jonathan Aifuobhokhan, proceeded to issue a timetable and make preparations for the local government election scheduled for July 11, 2026 .
This action is particularly egregious because the court issued its order after being informed that the 4th Defendant, Aifuobhokhan, had already gone ahead to issue a timetable for local government elections despite a pending motion for interlocutory injunction .
The court explicitly addressed this conduct and restrained all parties from taking such steps.
Proceeding with the election now is not merely an act of defiance; it is a calculated attempt to preempt the court’s final judgment and render the entire judicial process meaningless. It is, in essence, contempt of court.
The Legal Consequences
The consequences of this illegality are grave. As the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has previously warned, “The order from the National Industrial Court explicitly directed that no new commission be inaugurated and no electoral timetable issued until the matter is resolved” .
Hon. Justice Adewemimo has previously established in other cases that “Nothing should change during the pendency of an action.
Parties to an action are not expected to take any action which may affect or render the judgement of the court nugatory”
Any election conducted under these circumstances will be a sham, and as the PDP has rightly stated, any such exercise would be “illegal, null, void, and of no effect”.
Furthermore, the Chairman and members of EDSIEC, as well as the Attorney-General of Edo State, risk being held personally liable for contempt of court for their willful disobedience of valid court orders .
The Threat to Democracy
This is not merely a legal technicality; it is a fundamental threat to our democracy. The sanctity of the court must be preserved. When public officers who swore to uphold the Constitution deliberately disobey lawful court orders, they undermine the very foundation of our constitutional governance .
The claimants in the suit, who were appointed on March 23, 2022, for a fixed five-year tenure ending in March 2027, were unlawfully removed without due process, in flagrant breach of constitutional provisions . The court has been called upon to determine the legality of that action.
Our Call
“We, the concerned citizens of Edo State, call on the following parties to immediately halt all preparations for the July 11, 2026 local government election: Governor Monday Okpebholo and the Edo State Government, the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Edo State, the Speaker of the Edo State House of Assembly and the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission (EDSIEC)
“We call on them to respect the judiciary and allow the rule of law to prevail. The sanctity of the court must be preserved, and democracy is too sacred to be sacrificed on the altar of political desperation.
“We stand for the rule of law”, the group said.
Reacting to the statement, a senior member of EDSIEC, Dr. Sulieman Ikhuoria, said the court order was an old document with no bearing on Saturday’s (tomorrow) election, adding that it was a court case filed to stop the LGA’s By-Election of last year, which did not hold.
