56 Anambra councillors sue AG, assembly over two-year tenure limit
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- Fifty-six councillors in Nigeria's Anambra State have sued the state government, challenging a new law that limits their tenure to two years.
- The councillors argue that the two-year limit violates the 1999 Constitution, which they say guarantees a stable tenure for elected local government officials.
- They are seeking a court declaration that the law is unconstitutional and that they are entitled to a four-year term, aligning with federal and state elected officials.
About 56 serving councillors in Anambra State have filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutional validity of the state government's decision to limit the tenure of elected Local Government officials to two years. The suit, filed at the State High Court in Awka, names the state Attorney General, the Anambra State House of Assembly, and the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission as defendants.
A declaration of this Honourable Court that the system of local government guaranteed under Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), contemplates a secure, stable, and reasonable tenure capable of promoting effective grassroots governance, and does not permit the arbitrary truncation of its life cycle by state actors.
The lawmakers are specifically challenging Section 110(A) of the Anambra State Electoral (Amendment No. 3) Law, 2024. They contend that this section violates Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution, which guarantees a democratically elected local government system. The plaintiffs argue that the constitution provides a secure and stable tenure for elected local government officials and does not permit state authorities to arbitrarily shorten their mandate.
The councillors are asking the court to strike down the controversial section of the state electoral law, deeming it unconstitutional, null, and void. They seek declarations that the system of local government under the constitution contemplates a secure, stable, and reasonable tenure for effective grassroots governance. They also want a declaration that Section 110(A) of the electoral law is inconsistent with the constitution and therefore invalid.
A declaration that Section 110(A) of the Anambra State Electoral (Amendment No. 3) Law, 2024, which limits the tenure of democratically elected Local Government Chairmen, Deputy Chairmen, and Ward Councillors in Anambra State to two (2) years, is inconsistent with Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), and is therefore unconstitutional, null, void, and of no legal effect.
Furthermore, the plaintiffs are seeking an order affirming their entitlement to a secure and uniform tenure of four years, consistent with the tenure for elected officials at federal and state levels. They also request a perpetual injunction to prevent the defendants from dissolving, terminating, or interfering with their tenure.
An order of this Honourable Court declaring and affirming that the plaintiffs, and indeed all democratically elected local government officials, are entitled to a secure and uniform tenure of four years, in alignment with the democratic tenure applicable to elected officials at the federal and state levels of government in the Federation.
DistantNews Editorial
Originally published by The Punch. Summarized and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.
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