OPINION: Why Next Tenure Of LG Chairmen, Councilors In Cross River Must Be Four Years

On September 21 2024, I wrote an article on my Facebook page titled why the Cross River State House of Assembly has to clarify the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission Law (2002) (as amended) otherwise known as Law No. 8 of 2024. 

On the same 21 September 2024, the Chief Press Secretary to His Excellency, Senator Bassey Edet Otu, Governor of Cross River State, issued a press statement wherein he said that the Speaker of the Cross River State House of Assembly Right, Honourable Elvert Ayambem had admitted that the House never inserted into Law No. 8 2024 any provision concerning the extension of the tenure of elected Chairmen and Councillors of local government councils in the State contrary to the impression created by Honourable Ayambem when Governor Bassey Edet Otu assented the Cross River State Independent Electoral Commission Amendment Bill into law on the 19 September, 2024. 

This indeed has not settled the issue of whether or not the tenure of elected local government councils in the State is three or four years. 

Although the Cross River State Local Government Law 2004 has provided that elected Chairmen and Councilors of local government councils in the State are entitled to three years tenure. 

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor suggests the tenure of elected Chairmen and Councilors of local government councils in the State remains three years until necessary amendment to the law is made. 

Be that as it may, I think the controversy concerning the tenure of elected Chairmen and Councillors of local government councils in the State has not been put to an end, in view of the recent decision of the Supreme Court of Nigeria delivered on 11th May, 2024. 

This judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria regarding local government autonomy in Nigeria has shed light on the tenure of local government chairmen and councilors across the country.

This ruling establishes that local government chairmen and councilors are entitled to a four-year tenure, aligning with the tenure of executives at other levels of government.

This clarification has important consequences for local governance in Nigeria, particularly in ensuring the autonomy of local governments.

The Supreme Court said that Local Government Areas (LGAs) are constitutionally recognized as the third tier of government, with guaranteed political and financial independence.

The judgment revealed that the mandate given to elected local government councils by the electorate should be respected and protected.

Any attempt to prematurely end the tenure of these councils without due process is a violation of the people’s mandate and goes against democratic principles.

The Supreme Court also reinforced the doctrine of separation of powers, clarifying that it is the role of the Legislature to create and amend laws, while the judiciary’s function is to interpret these laws to fulfill the intent of the legislature.

In the light of the judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, the Cross River State Local Government Law which stipulates that the tenure of elected Chairmen and Councillors of local government councils is 3 years, is illegal, unconstitutional, null and void, and of no effect whatsoever. It is no longer good law. It has become otiose. 

Therefore it would amount to contempt and disobedience of the Judgment of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, if steps are not taken immediately to amend the Cross River State Local Government Law 2004 as it concerns the tenure of elected Chairmen and Councillors of local government councils in the State. 

There is no more auspicious time than now to align the law in Cross River State with the position of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. 

The Cross River State House of Assembly should immediately set a motion in machinery to effect this amendment before the anticipated forthcoming Local Government Elections in the state. 

If this is not done, landmines and uncertainties would have been unwittingly created for the next Chairmen and Councillors of the local government systems in the state, which has the potential to be disruptive of their tenure.

Okoi Obono-Obla, Former Presidential Aide