Plateau court scraps two-year LG tenure, restores four-year term

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By Golok Nanmwa

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A Plateau State High Court in Jos has ruled that Local Government Chairmen in the State will now serve a four-year tenure, declaring that the two-year tenure provided by the Plateau State and PLASIEC laws is inconsistent with Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended).

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In a Judgement delivered on Friday by the Chief Judge of Plateau State, Hon. Justice David Mann, the judgment affirmed that the shorter tenure contradicts constitutional provisions guaranteeing a democratically elected local government system.

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The court held that the two-year tenure provided for in the laws of the Plateau State Government and the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) is inconsistent with Section 7(1) of the Nigerian Constitution, which guarantees a democratically elected local government system.

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In its ruling, the court stated that the shorter tenure undermines the constitutional framework for local government administration and therefore cannot stand in the face of the constitutional provision.

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The judgment effectively grants elected local government chairmen a four-year term, aligning their tenure with broader constitutional expectations for democratic governance at the grassroots level.

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The decision comes ahead of the local government elections planned for September 2026, as announced by the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC).

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