A Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt has struck down a law extending the tenure of local government chairmen by six months.

Justice D.G. Kio declared the six-month tenure extension of the state’s local government executive chairmen, enacted by the Martins Amaewhule-led House of Assembly, as null, void, unconstitutional, and of no effect.

The court further declared the Local Government Law No.2 of 2024, which extended the tenure of local government chairmen, as invalid.

The court ruled that the law was inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution and Section 9 (1) of Rivers State Law No. 5 of 2018, which fixed a three-year tenure for local government chairmen and councillors.

The judgement was delivered in the case filed by Enyiada Cookey-Gam & 6 Ors vs. The Governor of Rivers State & Ors.

The presiding judge, Justice D.G. Kio, in his judgment, declared that Local Government Law No. 2 of 2024, which extended the chairmen’s terms by six months, was in conflict with the 1999 Constitution and Section 9(1) of Rivers State Local Government Law No. 5 of 2018.

The court affirmed that the lawful tenure for the chairmen and councillors remained three years, as stipulated by the 2018 law.

The judge stressed that any attempt to extend the tenure was unlawful and violated the officials’ oath of office. (The Guardian)