Fifty-six serving councillors in Anambra State have filed a suit at the State High Court in Awka, challenging the legality of the two-year tenure for elected local government officials.

The suit, marked A/261/2026, names the Attorney General of Anambra State, the Anambra State House of Assembly and the Anambra State Independent Electoral Commission (ANSIEC) as the first, second and third defendants, respectively.

The legal action followed the enactment of the Anambra State Electoral (Amendment No. 3) Law, 2024, which fixed the tenure of elected local government chairmen, deputy chairmen and councillors at two years.

The councillors argued that Section 7(1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) guarantees a democratically elected local government system with a stable and reasonable tenure that promotes effective grassroots governance.

They maintained that reducing the tenure of elected council officials to two years is inconsistent with the Constitution and asked the court to declare Section 110(A) of the amended electoral law unconstitutional, null and void.

The plaintiffs also urged the court to remove the provision from the state's laws, insisting that all democratically elected local government officials should serve a four-year term, in line with elected officials at the state and federal levels.

They further asked the court to restrain the defendants from dissolving or interfering with their tenure after two years. They also sought an order preventing ANSIEC from conducting fresh local government elections to replace them until the completion of what they described as their constitutional four-year tenure.

The case comes ahead of the Anambra State local government election scheduled for August 29.

(NAN)