Rivers State high court invalidates amended LG law

In a landmark ruling, the Rivers State High Court has invalidated the amended Local Government, LG Law proposed by the Martins Amaewhule faction of the Rivers State House of Assembly.

The judgment was delivered in the case numbered PHC/1320/CS/2024, which contested the six-month extension of tenure for local government chairmen after their terms had expired.

Justice D.G. Kio, who presided over the case, declared the amendment invalid due to its inconsistency with the 1999 Constitution and Section 9(1) of the Rivers State LG Law No. 5 of 2018.

The court emphasized that the governing law for the tenure of local government chairmen and councillors is the Rivers State Local Government Law No. 5 of 2018, which sets a three-year term.

The court found the attempt to extend the tenure through the Local Government Law No. 2 of 2024 to be unlawful and in violation of the officials’ oath of office.

This ruling represents a significant victory for Enyiada Cookey-Gam and six others who challenged the extension, reinforcing the primacy of constitutional principles in governance.