A Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday, nullified tenure extension for chairmen of the 23 local government areas in the state.
The court declared invalid the Local Government Law No.2 of 2024, which extended the tenure of local government chairmen by six months after the expiration of their tenure as invalid.
The law was recently passed by 27 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly loyal to ex-governor Nyesom Wike.
The lawmakers, led by the Speaker, Martin Amaewhule, vetoed the bill into law as Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, withheld his assent.
The development comes amid the raging political tussle between Wike and Fubara, which has seen the Assembly factionalised.
In a judgment on Tuesday, Justice D.G. Kio declared that the new law was inconsistent with the 1999 Constitution and Section 9 (1) of Rivers State Law No. 5 of 2018, which fixed the tenure of Rivers LG chairmen and councillors at three years.
Justice Kio said any attempt to extend the tenure of the LG chairmen and councillor was unlawful and a violation of the officials’ oath of office.
The judgment was delivered in a suit marked PHC/1320/CS/2024, filed by one Honourable Enyiada Cookey-Gam and six others against the Governor of Rivers State and others.
The amended law had allowed the serving local government chairmen whose tenure expires on June 17 to remain in office for another six months.
The law also barred the governor from appointment caretaker committees for the local governments.
Riding on the new law, the state chapter of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria had at a media briefing in Port Harcourt vowed not to vacate office on the expiration of their tenure on June 17.
They said the new law gave them the right to stay in office beyond June 17 following Governor Fubara’s alleged refusal to conduct the LG election.
The Chairman of the Rivers State ALGON, Allwell Ihunda, accused Fubara of withholding council funds.
But the governor, while speaking last week during the inauguration of a project, warned the LG chairmen to mind their actions and avoid taking the laws into their hands, saying they had a few days to leave office.
Fubara stated, “So I’m advising those people who call themselves local government chairmen, you have a few days in office, conduct yourselves. Politics will come, politics will go and we will still live our lives.
“Don’t let anybody deceive you. If you deliberately hurt anybody in the course of maybe expressing your support, nobody will forgive you. You will pay for it. So, I’m begging everyone please conduct yourselves.”
The governor had previously accused the LG chairmen of being disloyal to him, saying they were digging their own pits.
