A Kogi State High Court sitting in Koton Karfe has struck out a suit seeking to stop the conduct of the State Local Government Council Election scheduled for October 17, 2026, clearing all legal hurdles for the upcoming poll.
The court, presided over by Justice Aminu Eri, also dismissed the prayer challenging the tenure structure of local government administration in the state, ruling that the claimant failed to establish any inconsistency between the Kogi State Law, the Electoral Act, and the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
The suit was instituted by a former councillor in Ibaji Local Government Area, who approached the court to challenge his removal after serving two years in office. In his prayer, the claimant asked the court for an order restraining the Kogi State Independent Electoral Commission from proceeding with the planned council elections, while urging the court to interpret Section 50 of the Kogi State Local Government Law 2023, alongside Sections 25 and 26 of the Local Government Law as amended in 2025.
Counsel to the claimant, led by J.A. Akubo, SAN, argued that the two-year and three-year tenure provisions in the Kogi State laws were in direct violation of Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution. The legal team contended that local government council tenure ought to be four years, drawing parallels with the Electoral Act 2026, which prescribes a four-year tenure for Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory.
Contesting the suit, counsel representing the defendants—comprising the Kogi State Government, the State Independent Electoral Commission, and the Kogi State House of Assembly—maintained that the 1999 Constitution explicitly empowers State Houses of Assembly to legislate on the structure, composition, finance, and tenure of local government councils.
Delivering the judgment, Justice Eri held that the claimant’s arguments were predicated on assumptions and an improper application of provisions governing FCT Area Councils to state local government structures. The judge stressed that Section 7(1) of the Constitution guarantees a system of democratically elected local government councils, but does not prescribe a uniform four-year tenure for local government chairmen and councillors across the federation.
The court further noted that while the Constitution explicitly provides for a four-year tenure for executive offices such as the President and Governors, it makes no corresponding provision for local government officials in the states. Addressing the Electoral Act 2026, Justice Eri held that Section 112, which provides for a four-year tenure and dissolution, applies strictly to FCT Area Councils and does not extend substantive tenure rules to local government councils created under state laws.
Justice Eri added that although Section 153 of the Electoral Act 2026 extends procedures regulating elections to state local government councils, it does not apply the substantive four-year tenure provision in Section 112 to state councils. Consequently, the court ruled that the Electoral Act does not function as a general federal enactment prescribing uniform council tenure across Nigeria, affirming that the tenure of council officials in Kogi State remains governed by valid state legislation.
Finding that the claimant failed to demonstrate how Sections 27 and 28 of the Kogi State Local Government Law 2023 are invalid merely for prescribing a two-year tenure, Justice Eri dismissed the suit in its entirety for lacking merit.
Reacting to the verdict, counsel to the Kogi State House of Assembly, S.A. Abbas, alongside Dr. Abdulwahab Zakari, commended the decision, describing it as a landmark judgment that re-establishes the constitutional authority of state legislatures over local council tenure. Counsel to the claimant noted that the legal team would review the full text of the judgment before determining their next course of action.
