Plateau Government Drops LG Election Plans

Source: FIRAUNA GOWASH - thewillnigeria.com
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PHOTO: PLATEAU STATE GOVERNOR, MR DAVID JONAH JANG.


JOS, July 10, (THEWILL) - Local government elections in Plateau State will no longer hold in January next year as scheduled as the state government says it has cancelled the elections in respect of a court judgment which extended the tenure of LG chairmen in the state from two to three years.


The state’s commissioner for justice, Edward Pwajok who announced this at a press briefing in Jos, said the state electoral commission has been instructed to cancel its preparation for the election.


"We have accordingly advised PLASEIC to suspend all elections into offices of chairmen and councillors until the appropriate time.


A federal court of appeal had last week annulled the 2007 local government law passed by the Plateau State House of Assembly and assented to by the former Governor of the state, Chief Michael Botmang on grounds that Chief Botmang had been declared by the Supreme Court not to have been a governor and anything he had done during his tenure is null and void.


Pwajok said the implication of the judgment is that the local government law 1999, is the operational law for local governments in the state and so the tenure of local government councils in Plateau State is three years from the date of swearing in. He said the state government will not appeal the judgment.