The Imo State Government has postponed indefinitely the local government elections earlier scheduled for Saturday, September 26, 2026, following a legal challenge to the electoral process.
The decision was communicated to the High Court of Imo State sitting in Owerri on Wednesday, September 23, 2026, during proceedings in a suit filed by the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, challenging the planned council poll.
The election was originally scheduled to produce chairmen for the state’s 27 local government areas and councillors for 305 wards across 4,758 polling units.
The Imo State Independent Electoral Commission had announced Saturday, September 26 as the election date in a statement dated Friday, September 11, 2026.
The commission said the election date was pursuant to its “360 days” Notice of Election issued on September 18, 2025, under Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022, as amended.
The legal dispute began with Suit No. HOW/1380/2026, filed at the Owerri Judicial Division of the High Court of Imo State on Wednesday, September 16, 2026.
APGA and four of its Imo State officials instituted the action against the Imo State Independent Electoral Commission, its chairman and the Attorney-General of Imo State.
The plaintiffs are challenging the legality of the process leading to the Saturday, September 26 election, with particular emphasis on the notice of election, the electoral timetable and compliance with requirements concerning the Register of Voters.
At the centre of the challenge is the 360-day Notice of Election issued by the electoral commission on Friday, September 18, 2025.
APGA contends that the notice did not state the specific date fixed for the election, arguing that the omission amounted to non-compliance with the statutory requirements governing an election notice.
The party further argues that the subsequent announcement by the commission on Friday, September 11, 2026, fixing Saturday, September 26 as the election date, could not retrospectively cure what it described as a defective notice issued almost one year earlier.
The plaintiffs also raised questions concerning the electoral register to be used for the election.
They are asking the court to determine whether the required processes relating to voter registration, updating and revision of the Register of Voters were completed within the period prescribed by law.
APGA further wants the commission to produce documents relating to the electoral process, including the original or certified copy of the Friday, September 18, 2025 Notice of Election, the Friday, September 11, 2026 announcement, the electoral timetable and the certified Register of Voters intended for the poll.
Another issue raised in the suit concerns the change in Nigeria’s electoral legislation.
The plaintiffs argued that the Electoral Act 2022, under which the September 2025 notice was issued, was repealed by the Electoral Act 2026, which commenced on Wednesday, February 18, 2026.
They therefore want the court to determine whether the electoral process could lawfully continue under the new legal framework and whether the mandatory requirements of the 2026 Act had been satisfied.
APGA subsequently asked the High Court for an interlocutory injunction restraining the electoral commission from conducting the September 26 election pending the determination of the substantive case.
However, the September 26 election was not stopped by a court injunction.
Instead, the state government independently informed the court on Wednesday, September 23 that it had decided to postpone the election indefinitely.
The Attorney-General of Imo State, Paul Obinatu, told the court that the government took the decision in view of the issues raised in APGA’s case and the need to comply with applicable mandatory legal requirements.
Obinatu also indicated that the postponement would give the plaintiffs an opportunity to participate when a fresh electoral process is undertaken.
No new date has been announced for the local government elections as of Friday, September 25, 2026.
The High Court subsequently struck out APGA’s application for substituted service after it was established that the defendants had already been served with the originating processes.
The substantive suit was adjourned to Friday, October 30, 2026, for mention.
The court did not determine the substantive questions raised by APGA and did not issue a judgment declaring the electoral process unlawful.
The court also did not itself cancel the September 26 election. The postponement was communicated to the court as a decision of the state government.
The postponement has also created a new administrative question because reports indicate that the tenure of the current elected local government officials is expected to expire on September 30, 2026.
The Imo State House of Assembly has reportedly moved to amend the legal framework governing local government administration amid concerns about a possible leadership vacuum after the expiration of the current councils’ tenure.
The proposed interim arrangement has generated further constitutional questions because the Supreme Court, in its Thursday, July 11, 2024 judgment concerning local government administration, affirmed the constitutional requirement for democratically elected local government councils under Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution.
The Supreme Court rejected the substitution of elected councils with unelected caretaker or similar arrangements in the circumstances considered by the court.
For Imo, the immediate issue is now how the 27 local government areas will be administered after the expiration of the present councils’ tenure and before a new election is conducted.
As of Friday, September 25, 2026, the state has no announced replacement date for the postponed council election, while APGA’s legal challenge remains pending before the High Court.
The development means that the proposed September 26 council poll will not be held as originally scheduled, leaving the electoral process and the subsequent administration of the local government areas subject to further legal and administrative decisions.
