State High Court Nullifies Two-Year Tenure for LG Chairmen, Restores Four-Year Term

A High Court in Jos has ruled that local government chairmen in Plateau State are entitled to a four-year tenure, striking down state laws that limited their term in office to two years.

Delivering the judgment on Friday, the Chief Judge of the state, David Mann, held that provisions in the Plateau State law and the law establishing the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission (PLASIEC) prescribing a two-year tenure conflict with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.

The court found that the two-year tenure violates Section 7(1) of the constitution, which guarantees a system of democratically elected local governments.

According to the ruling, limiting the tenure of elected council chairmen to two years undermines the constitutional structure designed to protect democratic governance at the local government level.

Justice Mann therefore declared the two-year provision inconsistent with the constitution and set it aside.

The decision means that elected local government chairmen in Plateau State will serve four-year terms.

The ruling comes months before the local government elections scheduled for September 2026 by PLASIEC.