Legal Bombshell: 56 Anambra Councillors Challenge Two-Year Tenure, Demand Four Years

Fifty-six serving councillors in Anambra State have filed a suit challenging the constitutional validity of the state government’s decision to limit the tenure of elected local government officials to two years.

In Suit No. A/261/2026, before State High Court Awka,the plaintiffs joined the Attorney General of Anambra State, the Anambra State House of Assembly, and the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) as the first, second, and third defendants, respectively.
The plaintiffs are seeking, among others, the following declarations:
“A declaration of this Honourable Court that the system of local government guaranteed under Section 7(1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), contemplates a secure, stable, and reasonable tenure capable of promoting effective grassroots governance, and does not permit the arbitrary truncation of its life cycle by state actors.”
They are also seeking:
“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 effect.”
The plaintiffs further seek 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 laws of Anambra State on the grounds that it is inconsistent with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Other reliefs sought include:
“An order of this Honourable Court declaring and affirming that the plaintiffs, and indeed all democratically elected local government officials, are entitled to a secure and uniform tenure of four (4) years, in alignment with the democratic tenure applicable to elected officials at the federal and state levels of government in the Federation.”
The plaintiffs are also asking for:
“An order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, whether by themselves, their agents, privies, or any person acting on their behalf, from dissolving, terminating, or in any way interfering with the tenure of the elected local government councils at the expiration of two years.”
They further seek: “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 government officials until the expiration of their full four-year tenure.”
The suit comes barely one month before the scheduled conduct of local government elections in Anambra State.
It will be recalled that the Anambra State House of Assembly had earlier passed the Anambra State Electoral (Amendment No. 3) Law, 2024, which fixed the tenure of elected Local Government Chairmen, Deputy Chairmen, and Councillors at two years.