A State High Court in Akwa Ibom has declared the setting up of the local government caretaker committees in the state as illegal.

The court declared on Tuesday that the process which led to the constitution of the caretaker committees was unlawful as there were no provisions for such procedure within the Nigerian Constitution.

The ruling comes about two years after the state governor Udom Emmanuel appointed the chairpersons to run the affairs of the 31 local governments in the state.

In his ruling on Tuesday, Justice Ezekiel Enang of the State High Court at the Abak Judicial Division ordered the governor to dissolve the caretaker committees immediately.

A lawyer, Mr Nsikak Akai, who filed the suit against Governor Emmanuel and the state government, lauded the judgement as a victory for democracy.

The Commissioner of Justice in the state, Mr Uwemedimo Nwoko, however, vowed that the government would appeal the judgment.

Source: The Nigeria Lawyer