Barely one month to the conduct of the local government election in Anambra State, 56 serving councillors have filed a suit challenging the scheduled exercise, contending that their tenure of office has not expired.
Recall that the Anambra State House of Assembly had passed a bill into law pegging the tenure of both local government chairmen and councillors at two years in office.
The suit, which joined the Attorney General of Anambra State, the Anambra State House of Assembly and the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) as first, second and third defendants respectively, in Suit No. A/261/2026, sought the following declarations:
“A declaration of this Honourable Court that the statutory system of local government guaranteed under Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) implies a secure, stable and reasonable tenure capable of achieving grassroots governance, and does not permit the arbitrary truncation of its life cycle by state actors.”
“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 consequence.”
The plaintiffs are also seeking an order of the court striking down, invalidating and expunging Section 110(A) of the Anambra State Electoral (Amendment No. 3) Law, 2024, from the statute books of Anambra State for its blatant inconsistency with the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Other reliefs sought include:
“An order of the court directing and affirming that the plaintiffs, and indeed all democratically elected local government officials, are entitled to a secure and standard tenure of four (4) years, in alignment with the democratic mandates of the federal and state tiers of government in the federation.”
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their agents, privies or anyone acting on their behalf, from dissolving, terminating or interfering with the tenure of the elected local councils at the two-year mark.”
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the third defendant from taking any steps, publishing any timetable, or conducting any election aimed at replacing the plaintiffs as the current elected local council officials until their full four-year tenure expires.”
