The Plateau State High Court has declared the state’s two-year tenure for local government chairmen unconstitutional, ruling that elected council leaders must serve four-year terms instead. The judgment, delivered by the state’s Chief Judge, Justice David Gwong Mannin, nullifies the existing legal provision and affirms a longer tenure as compliant with the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria.
The lawsuit was initiated by the 17 local government council chairmen in the state, who sued the Plateau State Government and the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC). They argued that the two-year term, as stipulated in state law and electoral guidelines, violated constitutional guarantees for democratically elected local government administration.
In his ruling, Justice Mannin held that the two-year tenure is inconsistent with Section 7(1) of the Constitution, which ensures a system of local government with democratically elected councils. The judge stated that the shorter tenure undermines the constitutional framework for grassroots governance and cannot supersede federal constitutional provisions. Conversely, the court affirmed that a four-year tenure aligns the position of local government chairmen with the broader constitutional expectation for stable, democratically elected local administration across Nigeria.
The decision resolves a legal conflict between state legislation and national constitutional standards for local government. It mandates that all future elections for local government chairmen in Plateau State must be conducted for a four-year term, bringing the state into conformity with the constitutional model. The ruling also implicitly directs PLASIEC to adjust its electoral regulations and the state government to amend relevant laws to reflect the four-year tenure.
This judgment reinforces the supremacy of the Nigerian Constitution over state laws in electoral matters and sets a precedent that may influence similar debates in other states with shorter local government tenures. For now, the implementation of the four-year term in Plateau State will require coordinated action from the electoral commission and the state legislature to formalize the change before the next electoral cycle.
