Biya extends mandate of municipal councillors to February 2027.

Biya, in the decree, indicated that the decision follows the greenlight given by government through the Prime Minister, Head of Government's letter, and that of the President of the Senate, both dated March 25, 2026. 

The mandate extension comes as no surprise as Parliament had during the March session voted the bill empowering the President of the Republic to abridge or limitlessly extend the mandate of municipal councillors. 

The said Bill No. 2093/PJL/AN, was adopted at both the National Assembly and the Senate, without any resistance, on April 4, 2026.

The bill was defended in both legislative houses by the Minister of Territorial Administration, Paul Atanga Nji. 

The adoption saw the amendment of Section 170 (2) of Law No.20212/001 of 19 April 2012, relating to the Electoral Code.

The said section, before the adoption, gave the Head of State a maximum period of 18 months, to extend the mandate of municipal councillors.

Section 170 (2) of the Electoral Code, which MPs modified at the request of the Head of State, now reads: “…if need be, the President of the Republic may by decree extend or abridge the term of office of municipal councillors, after consultation with the government and the bureau of the Senate”.

After the bill was voted, Minister Atanga Nji told reporters that the Head of State can use his discretion to extend the mandate of municipal councillors, especially given the challenges of the time.

He had argued that “…we are living in a world of difficulties, were we have unforeseen circumstances. It is better to organise municipal and legislative elections at the same time, to avoid unnecessary expenditure”.

Atanga Nji had debunked claims that with the amendment, the President can decide to extend the mandate of municipal councillors for as long as he wants. 

He rather argued that Biya, as a guarantor of the Constitution, will not extend in such a way that it is above the normal mandate of five years. 

Analysts are unanimous that with the new text, everything relating to when the next municipal election will be at the mercy of President Paul Biya.

It should be recalled that Biya had on July 24, 2024, given municipal councillors a 15-month extension. The extension was to expire on May 31, 2026. 

Under the old provision, Biya had a window of just three months to extend the mandate again, which was naturally going to end on August 25, 2026, but he now solely decides when he so wishes.

The current municipal councillors were voted into office on February 9, 2020. Their five-year mandate was supposed to have ended on February 25, 2025.

This article was first published in The Guardian Post Edition No:3780 of Tuesday May 05, 2026