INEC Will Release FCT Area Councils’ Polls At Appropriate Time, Says INEC

Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it will release the timetable and schedule of activities for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Area Councils’ election at the appropriate time.

INEC National Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this Friday in Abuja during a meeting with the national leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) led by Yusuf Mohammed Dantalle, who doubles as Chairman of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).

He revealed that the Commission had earlier received inquiries from some law firms, an individual, a political party and one FCT Chairmanship Aspirants’ Forum. 

The chairman stressed that 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.

He noted that their inquiries were based on the provision of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) which was the subsisting law at the time elections to the area vouncils were held on Saturday, 12th February, 2022. 

Yakubu stated: “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“However, Nigerians are aware that the National Assembly has since repealed and re-enacted the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) as the Electoral Act 2022.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 councilors 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.”

The chairman explained that 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. 

He emphasised that for the executive, the tenure belongs to the elected individual, while for legislators, the tenure belongs to the Legislature. 

The chairman added that 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. 

Buttressing his points, Yakubu pointed out that the Commission had since released the timetable for the 2024 Edo and Ondo States’ governorship elections. 

He said this does not mean that whoever wins the election in Edo State in September or in Ondo State in November would immediately assume office, stressing that this would only take place after the administration of the oath of office upon the expiration of the tenure of the incumbent holders of the offices. 

The chairman said elections are only held earlier in order to avoid a vacuum, adding that, that was 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.

In the case of the FCT, Yakubu said Section 108(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 under which the current chairmen and councillors were sworn in on 14th June 2022 was clear and therefore unambiguous:

It 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 stressed that there were 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 election. 

He said 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. 

Yakubu noted: “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.

“I wish to reassure you that we are aware of our responsibilities under the law. Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 requires the Commission to release the timetable and schedule of activities 360 days (i.e. One year) before the date fixed for the election. It cannot be released two years ahead of elections. 

“At the appropriate time, the Commission will release the timetable and schedule of activities for the election.”