June 30, (THEWILL) – The problem had lingered since May 20, 2022 when the six outgoing Area Council Chairmen of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, secured a controversial one-year tenure extension.
The six council chairmen were inaugurated on May 20, 2019, under the 2010 Electoral Act and based on that Act, their tenure ended on Friday, May 20, 2022 and the new chairmen, based on the elections held in February of that year, were to be sworn in on May 20, 2022.
But the swearing–in of the new chairmen was briefly suspended because the FCT High Court granted a one-year extension to the incumbent six chairmen.
Based on this judgement, the supporters of the new chairmen took to the streets of Abuja in protest against the suspension of the swearing-in.
According to the judgment, based on the recently signed Electoral Act 2022, which stipulates that the tenure of the chairmen of the area councils in FCT would now be four years, instead of three years, the existing chairmen whose tenure were meant to expire on Thursday have another one year to continue, based on the new law.
Unfortunately for them, however, they had been sworn-in before the new Electoral Act granting 4-year tenure became operational. But old habits die hard.
About a week ago, the settled case reared its ugly head again. A lawyer, Elom Aleke, wrote the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on behalf of his client, Fatima Abubakar, a politician looking forward to another round of poll for the FCT councils.
Aleke, in his April 17, 2024 letter to INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, noted that the tenure of the current chairmen of area councils and councillors in the FCT, who assumed office in 2022, would elapse soon.
He said, “We most humbly urge you to rely on Section 28(1) (a) of the Electoral Act, 2022 which empowers you and the commission to release ‘Notice of Election’ not later than 360 days before the day scheduled for holding an election under the 2022 Electoral Act.
“Therefore, we, on the instruction of our client that since the three-year term of the current chairman and councilors will expire in June 2025, our client demand from you and your office to kindly release or cause to be released the notice of election for the 2025 Federal Capital Territory Area Councils election forthwith in line with Section 28(1) as of the Electoral Act, 2022.”
On Friday, June 28, 2024, INEC Chairman, Professor Yakubu, seized the opportunity of his meeting with the leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, in Abuja to lay the matter to rest.
Seeking clarification on the tenure of the current FCT area council chairmen and Councillors in Abuja, Yakubu told the leadership of IPAC, led by Yusuf Mohammed Dantalle, that INEC will not be conducting FCT Area Council polls next year until 2026.
He said their tenure will come to an end in June 2026.
IPAC and INEC had convened the meeting to tackle the lingering issue involving the six area council chairmen and 62 councillors, following agitations by political parties and candidates interested in contesting the area council election on what they considered a delay by the commission in releasing the timetable for the election
Yakubu noted that the Commission had received inquiries from some law firms, an individual, a political party and one FCT Chairmanship Aspirants’ Forum, questioning the tenure of the councils based on the provisions of the Electoral Act 2010, which initially provided for a three-year term.
According to the INEC chairman, 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
The Electoral Act 2022, which came into force on February 25, 2022, extends the tenure to four years, aligning it with national executive and legislative elections.
He said, “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 lawmaking 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 election 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 based on the new electoral Act (i.e. the Electoral Act 2022) which provides for a four-year tenure. Consequently, their tenure expires in June 2026,” he explained.
He drew the attention of the participants that the tenure of the Chairmen and Councillors is determined by the date of the oath of office, not the date of election, citing several judicial authorities to support this interpretation.
For the avoidance of doubt, he said, tenure is not defined by the date of election but by the date of the oath of office for executive elections or the date of inauguration for legislative houses.
“To further illustrate this position, the Commission has since released the timetable for the 2024 Edo and Ondo governorship elections. This does not mean that whoever wins the election in Edo State in September or in Ondo State in November will immediately assume office.
“This will only take place after the administration of the oath of office upon the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent holders of the offices. Elections are only held earlier to avoid vacuum. That is why the Constitution empowers the Commission to hold elections not earlier than 150 days and not later than 30 days before the end of the tenure of incumbent holders of elective offices,” he said and added that.
“Again, there are several judicial authorities, including the judgment of the Supreme Court that tenure begins from the date of oath of office and not the date of the election.
“The law firms that have written INEC on behalf of their clients ought to have drawn their attention to both the law and judicial pronouncements on the matter.
“You may also wish to note that when the Electoral Act 2022 was signed into law two weeks after the commission conducted the last Area Council elections in the FCT, the incumbent holders (chairmen and councillors) challenged us that we conducted the election too early, claiming that the new Electoral Act extended their tenure from three to four years.
“We reminded them that they took their oath of office under the old law before the coming into force of the new Electoral Act. Therefore, their tenure will expire in June 2022.”
He was quick to point out that the FCT Council remains a model for LGA polls in the country. He said “As you are all aware, the area council election in the FCT conducted by INEC remains a model for local government elections in the country. There is stability of tenure for chairmen and councillors. There has never been a caretaker committee in any area council in the FCT. Democratic elections are conducted on a regular basis.
“There is a plurality of electoral outcomes as no single political party has ever won elections in all the 68 Constituencies (six Area Council Chairmen and 62 councillors). We will continue to uphold the sanctity of tenure and improve the credibility of these elections.”
About the Author
Amos Esele is the Acting Editor of THEWILL Newspaper. He has over two decades of experience on the job.
