FCT Council Chairmen tenure ends in 2026 not 2025, INEC clarifies

FCT Council Chairmen tenure ends in 2026 not 2025, INEC clarifies

JOEL OLADELE, Abuja 

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has clarified that the tenure of Chairmen of the six Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) will end in 2026, not 2025.

The National Chairman of the Commission, Mahmood Yakubu, made the clarification at a meeting with the leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Abuja on Friday.

Recently, an individual, Law Firms, a political party and one FCT Chairmanship Aspirants’ Forum have been mounting pressure on INEC over the tenure of the Area Councils, making a demand for the Commission to release the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the Area Council elections.

Reacting to this, Yakubu explained that the tenure of the Chairmen and Councillors began from the date they took the oath of office, not the date of election. 

The oath-taking ceremony for the current Chairmen and Councillors took place on June 14, 2022, under the old Electoral Act 2010 (as amended), which was replaced by the Electoral Act 2022 on February 25, 2022.

According to Yakubu, the Electoral Act 2022 extended the tenure of Area Councils from three to four years, aligning it with executive and legislative elections nationwide. Therefore, the tenure of the current Chairmen and Councillors will expire in June 2026.

“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,” Yakubu stated.

He also emphasized that tenure is not defined by the date of election but by the date of oath of office for executive elections or 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. 

“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.

Yakubu therefore urged political parties and individuals with ambitions to contest for Area Council positions in the FCT to be guided by the provisions of the law and judicial pronouncements on tenure issues.

“May I, therefore, appeal to all persons with ambition to contest for the positions of Chairmen and Councillors in the FCT to be guided by the provisions of the law and judicial pronouncements on the issue of tenure. I also appeal to political parties to enlighten their members accordingly. At the appropriate time, the Commission will release the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election,” he said.

The meeting was attended by representatives of IPAC, political parties, and stakeholders in the FCT.