Plateau Court Grants Four-Year Tenure for LG Chairmen

On a landmark ruling delivered on Friday, the Plateau State High Court, presided over by Justice David Gwong Mannin, granted local government chairmen a four-year tenure, nullifying the existing two-year tenure stipulated by state law. Seventeen local council chairmen had challenged the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) in court, seeking an extension of their tenure from two years to four years, citing a breach of the Nigerian Constitution.

The court declared that the two-year tenure was inconsistent with Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended), which guarantees democratic elections for local government systems. Justice Mannin emphasized that a shorter tenure undermines the constitutional framework for local government administration and cannot stand against constitutional provisions.

The judgment aligns the tenure of elected local government chairmen with broader constitutional expectations for democratic governance at the grassroots level.