The Imo State Government has indefinitely postponed the local government elections earlier scheduled for Saturday, September 26, 2026, following a legal challenge by the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) over alleged breaches in the electoral process.
The postponement was announced in court on Wednesday, September 23, during proceedings in a suit instituted by APGA and four of its state officials against the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission (ISIEC), its chairman and the Attorney-General of the state.
The development effectively means the September 26 council poll will no longer hold as planned, although the government did not announce a new date.
Importantly, the postponement was not the result of a court injunction stopping the election. Rather, Attorney-General of Imo State, Paul Obinatu, informed the High Court sitting in Owerri that the state government had independently decided to defer the election.
According to the update on the proceedings, the Attorney-General said the decision was taken in view of the issues raised in APGA’s suit and the need to comply with applicable mandatory provisions of the law.
He also told the court that the postponement would give the plaintiffs an opportunity to participate in the electoral process.
The case, filed as Suit No. HOW/1380/2026, arose from APGA’s challenge to the legality of the electoral process leading to the proposed September 26 poll.
APGA had argued that the 360-day Notice of Election issued by ISIEC on September 18, 2025, was defective because it allegedly failed to state the specific date fixed for the election.
The party further challenged the September 11, 2026 announcement through which ISIEC subsequently fixed September 26 as the election date, arguing that the announcement, made roughly 15 days before the proposed poll, could not retrospectively cure the alleged defect in the earlier notice.
The plaintiffs also questioned compliance with provisions relating to the Register of Voters and other statutory requirements governing local government elections.
Another issue raised by APGA is the repeal of the Electoral Act 2022, under which the 2025 notice was purportedly issued, following the commencement of the Electoral Act 2026 on February 18, 2026.
APGA contends that the continuing electoral process must comply with the applicable provisions of the 2026 law. The party also relied on the Supreme Court’s 2025 decision concerning the Rivers State local government elections in advancing its argument that statutory requirements governing council elections must be complied with.
However, the High Court has not ruled on the merits of APGA’s claims.
During Wednesday’s proceedings, the defendants informed the court that they had filed a Notice of Preliminary Objection challenging the competence of the plaintiffs’ processes and the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the matter.
The Attorney-General also informed the court that the period allowed for the defendants to respond to the plaintiffs’ processes had not yet expired.
Meanwhile, an application by APGA for substituted service was withdrawn after the defendants were shown to have already been served with the relevant court processes. The application was consequently struck out.
Despite the government’s decision to postpone the election, APGA’s counsel, Chief C.I. Asika Ilobi, told the court that the party would not withdraw the suit.
Ilobi, who appeared with K.I. Uzoaganobi and U.F. Njoku, said withdrawing the case at this stage would be premature because the plaintiffs wanted to determine whether the relevant statutory requirements would ultimately be complied with.
He said the plaintiffs would return to court at the next adjourned date to report on the level of compliance with the applicable electoral requirements.
The suit was subsequently adjourned to October 30, 2026, for mention.
The defendants were represented by the Attorney-General alongside N.C. Eronini, C.U. Ahaneku and N.C. Njemanze.
The postponement brings a fresh dimension to the controversy surrounding the proposed Imo council elections. While the immediate pressure of the September 26 deadline has been removed, the substantive legal questions raised by APGA remain unresolved.
The next scheduled court proceeding will therefore determine the further direction of the litigation, while the state government is yet to announce a fresh date for the local government elections.
