A High Court sitting in the Koton-Karfe, Kogi Local Government Area of Kogi State, has dismissed a suit challenging the tenure of local government officials in the state, ruling that the Kogi State Electoral Law is not inconsistent with the Electoral Act or the 1999 Constitution, as amended.
Justice Aminu Eri, in his judgment on Friday, held that the claimant failed to establish any conflict between the state’s local government laws, the Electoral Act and the Constitution.
The judge observed that the claimant’s arguments were largely based on assumptions and provisions governing the tenure of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Council officials.
The suit, which was instituted by a former councillor in Ibaji Local Government Council who challenged his removal from office after two years, sought a judicial interpretation of Section 50 of the Kogi State Local Government Law 2023 and Sections 25 and 26 of the same law, as amended in 2025.
The claimant, through his legal team led by J.A. Akubo (SAN) alongside T.U. Odoma, S.S. Udaa and A.O. Apeh, argued that the two-year and three-year tenures provided under the state laws violated Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution.
He urged the court to recognise a four-year tenure, relying on Sections 112 and 253 of the Electoral Act 2026, which provide for a four-year tenure for FCT Area Council officials.
The defendants, the Kogi State Government, the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC) and the Kogi State House of Assembly, opposed the suit as their legal representatives, including Abdulwahab Zakari, O.O. Adegboyega, V.A. Shaibu and S.A. Abbas, argued that the Constitution empowers state Houses of Assembly to legislate on local government elections and related matters.
They, however, maintained that the state had not violated any constitutional provision in determining the tenure of local government chairmen, vice chairmen and councillors.
In his ruling, Justice Eri held that the Constitution does not expressly prescribe the tenure of local government chairmen, vice chairmen and councillors, noting that the authority to legislate on such matters rests with the State House of Assembly.
The court therefore dismissed the suit for lacking merit.
Reacting to the judgment, counsel to the Kogi State House of Assembly, S.A. Abbas and Abdulwahab Zakari, welcomed the decision, describing it as a reaffirmation of the legislature’s authority to determine the tenure of local government officials through state legislation.
Counsel to the claimant, however, said the legal team would study the judgment, acknowledging that the court’s decision affirmed that the Kogi State law was not inconsistent with the provisions of the Electoral Act and the Constitution.
The matter had earlier come up before Justice Eri on Wednesday, when preliminary applications, motions and affidavits were adopted by the parties. The court subsequently adjourned the case until Friday, October 9, 2026, for judgment, when the final ruling was delivered.
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