INEC SAYS THAT THE TENURE OF AREA COUNCIL CHAIRMEN IN THE FCT WILL EXPIRE IN JUNE 2026 28-06-24
By Sadiq Aminu The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC says that the tenure of Area Council Chairmen In the FCT will expire in June 2026.
INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu stated this today when the National Leadership of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) led by the Chairman Yusuf Mohammed Dantalle visited him in Abuja to seek clarifications from the Commission on when the tenure of the current Chairmen for the six Area Councils as well as the 62 Councillors in the FCT would expire.
Professor Yakubu explained that the National Assembly extended the tenure of the Area Councils from three to four years, thereby aligning it with executive and legislative elections nationwide.
The INEC Chairman went further to explain that, the Act came into force on Friday 25th February 2022, two weeks after the last Area Council elections in the FCT was held but 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.
Professor Yakubu gave an assurance that the Commission would release the time table and guidelines for Councils election in the FCT as at when due as Section 28(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 required the Commission to release the Timetable and Schedule of Activities One year before the date fixed for the election.
He appealed to all persons who wants 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.
Earlier, the National Chairman of the Inter-Party Advisory Council ,IPAC, Yusuf Dantalle, said they were at the Commission to seek clarification on the tenure of the current Chairmen for the six Area Councils as well as the 62 Councillors in the FCT.
He said whether three or four years, the issue had been settled before but that he still deemed it necessary to bring along other stakeholders to the commission to get first-hand information about the tenure of council chairmen in FCT.