FCT Area Councils’ Chairmen to remain in office until 2026, says INEC

Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has clarified that the incumbent Area Council Chairmen in the Federal Capital Territory will remain in office until 2026.

Yakubu made the clarification on Friday at a meeting with the leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) to discuss the tenure of Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

Against the backdrop of agitation for the conduct of fresh elections in the FCT, the INEC Chairman noted that the tenure of office of the elected officers begins on the date of taking oath of office, not the date of the conduct of the election.

Yakubu said: “I must also place on record that the Commission had earlier received inquiries from some law firms, an individual, a political party, and one FCT Chairmanship Aspirants’ Forum.

“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 provisions 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 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“However, Nigerians are aware that the National Assembly has since repealed and re-enacted the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) as the Electoral Act 2022.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 June 14, 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.”