The Chairman of Chanchaga Local Government Area in Niger State, Alhaji Aminu Yakubu-Ladan, has dragged the Niger State Government to court over an alleged illegal attempt to reduce the constitutionally guaranteed tenure of local government chairmen and councillors.
Yakubu-Ladan is asking the Federal High Court in Abuja to declare Section 29(2) of the Niger State Local Government Law, 2001 (as amended), which limits LG officials’ tenure to three years, as unconstitutional and inconsistent with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2022.
In the suit filed on July 11, 2025, with the number FHC/ABJ/CS/1370/2025, the plaintiff is seeking an order restraining the Niger State Independent Electoral Commission (NSIEC) from conducting the scheduled November 1 local government elections until the expiration of his and other elected officials’ four-year term.
Joined in the suit as 1st to 5th defendants are the Attorney-General of Niger State, the State House of Assembly, NSIEC, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and the Inspector-General of Police.
Yakubu-Ladan, through his counsel Chris Udeoyibo, posed eight legal questions before the court, primarily challenging the validity of the state’s attempt to enforce a three-year tenure contrary to federal law.
“The 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2022, clearly stipulate a four-year tenure for democratically elected local government officials.
Any attempt to amend that through a state law is not only unconstitutional but amounts to executive overreach,” he argued.
The suit also seeks to restrain INEC and the Nigeria Police from providing logistical or security support for the conduct of the November elections until the current LG administrations complete their full terms.
According to Yakubu-Ladan, the Local Government Law of 2001, which the state seeks to rely upon, is inconsistent with Section 7 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Sections 18 and 150 of the Electoral Act, 2022.
He is praying the court to issue a declaration affirming the four-year tenure of LG chairmen and councillors as sacrosanct, warning that any contrary action by the state amounts to a breach of the rule of law.
As of the time of filing this report, the matter has not yet been assigned to a judge.
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