LG Tenure : Uzodimma, Soludo Under Pressure<\/p>\n
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The furore over the actual tenure of elected Council Chairmen and Councillors in Imo and Anambra States are far from being over. As it is now, Governors Hope Uzodimma of Imo State and Charles Soludo of Anambra State are under increasing pressure as legal and political disputes intensify over the tenure of elected local government officials, with Council Chairmen and Councillors in both states maintaining that they are constitutionally entitled to serve four-year terms.<\/p>\n
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The controversy follows the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government autonomy, which many elected council officials have interpreted as guaranteeing a four-year tenure for democratically elected local government Chairmen and Councillors.<\/p>\n
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In Anambra State, no fewer than 56 serving Councillors have approached the State High Court in Awka, challenging the constitutionality of the two-year tenure provided under Section 110(A) of the Anambra State Electoral (Amendment No. 3) Law, 2024.<\/p>\n
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The Councillors are asking the court to declare the provision unconstitutional and inconsistent with Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). They contend that elected local government officials are entitled to a uniform four-year tenure, similar to elected office holders at the federal and state levels. They are also seeking an injunction restraining the Anambra State Government and the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) from conducting fresh local government elections until the expiration of what they describe as their lawful four-year tenure.<\/p>\n
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The suit was filed barely one month before the local government elections scheduled for August 29, 2026.<\/p>\n
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A similar situation appears to be unfolding in Imo State, where reports indicate that the 27 elected local government Council Chairmen are opposed to the proposed September 2026 council elections.<\/p>\n
The Chairmen, who were elected on September 21, 2024, and sworn into office on September 30, 2024, reportedly maintain that their tenure should run until 2028. They argue that conducting fresh elections after only two years would be inconsistent with the principles established by the Supreme Court’s judgment on local government autonomy.<\/p>\n
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Although reports initially claimed that the Chairmen were preparing to institute legal proceedings against the Imo State Government, the Imo State chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) later issued a publication denying that the Council Chairmen had threatened court action.<\/p>\n
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However, the denial has done little to quell speculation within political circles.<\/p>\n
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Multiple party sources averred that behind the public denials, intense lobbying is allegedly underway by some serving Council Chairmen who are anxious about their political future.According to the sources, several Chairmen who fear they may not secure a second term because of alleged poor performance have resorted to back-channel consultations with influential political figures in an attempt to persuade Governor Hope Uzodimma to extend their tenure.<\/p>\n
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One senior party source, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to discuss internal deliberations, alleged that the campaign is being coordinated by a female Council Chairperson considered influential within government circles.<\/p>\n
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“The pressure is real,” the source said. “Some of them believe that once they leave office, they may never return. Their calculation is that if they can remain in office for another year or two, the political equation may change in their favour,” the source stated.<\/p>\n
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Another source claimed that some of the Chairmen believe Governor Uzodimma’s expected exit from office next year could usher in a new administration that may grant local government councils greater financial autonomy.According to the source, some Chairmen are convinced that a successor would be more liberal in the disbursement of federal allocations to local governments than the current arrangement, which they privately describe as inadequate and greedy.<\/p>\n
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The source further alleged that this expectation has become one of the major motivations behind the push to prolong their stay in office.<\/p>\n
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Political observers believe the brewing disputes in Imo and Anambra States could ultimately produce a judicial precedent that will determine whether elected local government officials across Nigeria are constitutionally entitled to a uniform four-year tenure or not.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
LG Tenure : Uzodimma, Soludo Under Pressure The furore over the actual tenure of<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50087","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-frontpage"],"yoast_head":"\n