Rivers State: Court Overturns Tenure Extension for Pro-Wike Local Government Chairmen
On Tuesday, the Rivers State High Court in Port Harcourt declared the extensions of the 23 local government chairmen’s tenures as null and void.
The court found that Local Government Law No. 2 of 2024, which extended the chairmen’s terms by six months after their original terms had expired, was illegal.
Justice D.G. Kio ruled that the law contradicted the 1999 Constitution and Section 9(1) of Rivers State Law No. 5 of 2018, which sets a three-year term limit for local government chairmen and councilors.
In the case of Enyiada Cookey-Gam & 6 Ors vs. The Governor of Rivers State & Ors (suit number PHC/1320/CS/2024), Justice Kio declared the six-month extension invalid. The court upheld that the legal tenure for local government officials remains three years as per the 2018 law, and any extension beyond this period is unlawful and violates the officials’ oath of office.
