The Supreme Court of Nigeria, in a landslide judgement on local government autonomy, ordered that the four-year tenure enjoyed by executives be extended to the offices of all local government chairmen across the country.
This is contained in the Certified True Copy (CTC) of a judgement delivered by Justice Mohammed Garba and six others on May 11, 2024.
Garba said that some states have, by their various illegal actions, starved the local government councils in their states to the extent that most of them cannot exercise their constitutional powers or perform their statutory functions.
The Justice described the situation of the LGA in the country as “one tier of government’s inhumanity to another tier of government.”
Garbage said that LGAs in Nigeria, unlike branches of incorporated bodies or entities, are constitutionally the third tier of government in the Federation.
According to him, their political and financial independence is duly guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended).
The Justice said that Section 2(2) of the Constitution provides that “Nigeria shall be a Federation consisting of States and a Federal Capital Territory.”.
He further stated that 36 states in the country are specified, in alphabetical order, by Section 3(1) of the Constitution.
He said that Section 3(6) of the Constitution provides that “there shall be 768 local government areas in Nigeria,“ while Section 1(2) of the Constitution provides that “Nigeria shall not be governed, nor shall any person or group of persons take control of the Government of Nigeria or any part thereof, except in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.”
The Justice, however, said that in respect of the six Area Councils of the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, there is template legislation by the National Assembly.
He said that by way of sections 108, 109, 110, and 113 of the Electoral Act (2022), the dissolution (tenure of area councils), the vacation of seats of members, removal of the chairman or vice chairman, recall, etc. were addressed. And elections to the area councils are promptly conducted or held by the Independent National Electoral Commission.
“It is, therefore, unfortunate that some states do not even bother about conducting elections into local government councils as required by the relevant laws of their Houses of Assembly.
“Under Section 135(3) of the Constitution, the tenure of four years for the president, provided for by Section 135(2) thereof, shall be extended for periods not exceeding a period of six months at any time by a resolution of the National Assembly if it is not practicable to hold elections.
“By the same token, by a law of a State House of Assembly, the tenure of local government councils can be legally extended for any reason, such as insecurity or war, if it becomes impracticable or impossible for elections into the local government councils to be conducted.
“The mandate given to an elected local government council is the mandate of the electorate of that local government area, and if the tenure is extended, it is the people’s mandate that is extended.
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“If the tenure of a local government council is truncated, as it is the norm now, it is an illegal termination of the electorate’s mandate, and it is not to be encouraged but roundly condemned.
“By the doctrine of separation of powers, it is the constitutional duty or function of the Legislature to make laws, which include amendments and repeals, and the duty of the judiciary is to interpret the laws to achieve the intended purpose of the legislation,” he said.
