From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has clarified that the tenure of the current Chairmen of the six Area Councils as well as the 62 Councillors in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will expire in June 2026.
The commission has been inundated with inquiries and demands for the release of the timetable and schedule of activities in anticipation that the Area Council election will hold this year due to wrong impression that it is still a three-year tenure.
The electoral umpire confirmed that it had earlier received inquiries from some Law Firms, national and FCT chapter leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), individuals, political party and one FCT Chairmanship Aspirants’ Forum.
However, reacting formally to the confusions trailing the exact date for the expiration of the tenure, INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, emphasised that the current leadership will be in office till June 2026.
Yakubu hinged the decision on the provision of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), the subsisting law at the time elections to the Area Councils were held on Saturday, February 12, 2022, by the National Assembly that extended the tenure of the Area Councils from three to four years, aligning it with executive and legislative elections nationwide.
In his remarks at a meeting led by the leadership of IPAC on the tenure of the FCT Area Council held in Abuja on Friday, Yakubu said: “In summary, all the inquiries relate to the tenure of the Area Councils and a demand for the commission to release the timetable and schedule of activities for the Area Council elections.
“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, February 12, 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“However, Nigerians are aware that the National Assembly has since repealed and re-enacted the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) as the Electoral Act 2022.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,” he emphasised.
Speaking further, Yakubu said that; “Again, there are several judicial authorities, including the judgement of the Supreme Court, that tenure begins from the date of oath of office and not the date of 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.
“Democratic elections are conducted on regular basis. There is 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),” he noted.
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