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Nigeria’s electoral body, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC says the election for Chairmen and Councilors of the four area councils of the Federal Capital Territory will be held in 2026.
INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu clarified while in the audience with the national leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, led by its chairman, Yusuf Mohammed Dantalle, who doubles as Chairman of the Allied Peoples Movement, APM.
He was accompanied by the leadership of IPAC in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) with the sole purpose of seeking the Commission’s clarification on the tenure of the current Chairmen for the six Area Councils as well as the 62 Councilors in the FCT.
Professor Mahmood said the Commission had earlier received inquiries from some Law Firms, an individual, a political party, and the FCT Chairmanship Aspirants’ Forum 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 12th February 2022. The Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) provides for a three-year tenure for Chairmen and Councilors which, in their opinion, expires next year,’ he said.
Electoral Act
He explained that the National Assembly had repealed and re-enacted the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) as the Electoral Act 2022.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 Councilors 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 therefore expires in June 2026,” he said.
The INEC Chairman stated that tenure was 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. A President/Vice President-elect, Governor/Deputy Governor-elect, Senator-elect, Member-elect, Chairman-elect or Councillor-elect cannot exercise the powers of office and draw from the remunerations attached to it until such a person is sworn in or the legislative house is inaugurated,” he said.