The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday said the tenure of office of all elected chairmen and councillors in the six area councils of the FACT will come to an end in June 2026, warning those interested in contesting the election to be guided by the provisions of the Law.
Speaking at a meeting with members of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, said by the provisions of the law, the tenure of office of every elected official begins the day such a person takes the oath of office.
There had been agitations by political parties and candidates interested in contesting the Area Council elections on what they considered delay by the Commission in releasing the time table in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act, 2022.
The INEC chairman said that Section 108(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 under which the current chairmen and councillors were sworn-in on 14th June 2022 is clear and therefore unambiguous
According to him, the law states “(1) An Area Council shall stand dissolved at the expiration of 4 years commencing from the date –
(a) when the Chairman took the oath of office; or (b) when the legislative arm of the Council was inaugurated whichever is earlier”.
Yakubu said “the Commission had earlier received inquiries from some law firms, an individual, a political party and one FCT Chairmanship Aspirants’ Forum.
“Their inquiries are based on the provision of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) which was the subsisting law at the time elections to the Area Councils were held on Saturday 12th February 2022. The Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) provides for a three-year tenure for Chairmen and Councillors which, in their opinion, expires next year.
“However, Nigerians are aware that the National Assembly has since repealed and re-enacted the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) as the Electoral Act 2022. In particular, in the exercise of its powers as the law-making body for the FCT, the National Assembly extended the tenure of the Area Councils from three to four years, thereby aligning it with executive and legislative elections nationwide.
“This is one of the important provisions of the Electoral Act 2022. The Act came into force on Friday 25th February 2022, two weeks after the last Area Council elections in the FCT. By the time the elected chairmen and councillors were sworn-in four months later on 14th June 2022, they took their oath of allegiance and oath of office on the basis of the new electoral Act (i.e. the Electoral Act 2022) which provides for a four-year tenure. Consequently, their tenure therefore expires in June 2026.
“For the avoidance of doubt, tenure is not defined by the date of election but the date of the oath of office for executive elections or the date of inauguration for legislative houses. For the executive, the tenure belongs to the elected individual while for legislators; the tenure belongs to the Legislature.”