The National Assembly has proposed a uniform four-year renewable tenure for elected local government officials across Nigeria.
Under the proposed constitutional amendments, anyone contesting local government elections must be at least 25 years old. Such candidates are also required to possess a minimum of a secondary school certificate or its equivalent and must be sponsored by a political party.
In addition, the power to remove council chairmen and vice-chairmen will rest with councillors, effectively taking away the authority of state governors to dissolve elected councils.
These proposals form part of the wide-ranging recommendations of the Joint Constitution Review Committee of both the Senate and the House of Representatives, which were adopted during a recent retreat in Lagos.
The recommendations are currently awaiting formal consideration by both chambers of the National Assembly.
A total of forty-four constitution alteration bills are pending approval before being transmitted to the 36 state Houses of Assembly for further legislative action.
Although voting on the bills had initially been scheduled before the Christmas and New Year break, members of the House of Representatives requested additional time to study the recommendations and consult with their constituents before proceeding.
At present, the 774 local governments in the country operate under different tenure arrangements, with most running a three-year term. Only the six Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory operate a four-year tenure.
Section 212 of the proposed amendment states as follows: “subject to the provisions of this Constitution, a person shall hold the office of Chairman of a Local Government Council until – (a) when his successor in office takes the oath of that office; (b) he dies whilst holding such office; (c) the date when his resignation from office takes effect; or (d) he otherwise ceases to hold office in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution.
It also provides that “Subject to the provisions of subsection (1) of this section, the Chairman shall vacate his office at the expiration of a period of four years commencing from the date when –(a) in the case of a person first elected as Chairman under this Constitution, he took the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office; and (b) the person last elected to that office took the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office or would, but for his death, have taken such oaths.”
The amendment further proposes that “in the determination of the four-year term, where a re-run election has taken place and the person earlier sworn in wins the re-run election, the time spent in office before the date the election was annulled shall be taken into account.
“If the Federation is at war in which the territory of Nigeria is physically involved and the President considers that it is not practicable to hold elections, the National Assembly may by resolution extend the period of four years mentioned in subsection (2) of this section from time to time, but no such extension shall exceed a period of six months at any one time”.
The proposals also extend to local government chairmen and vice-chairmen the same constitutional privileges currently enjoyed by the President and Governors.
It further stipulates that “a person elected to the office of the Chairman of a Local Government shall not begin to perform the functions of that office until he has declared his assets and liabilities as prescribed in the Constitution and has subsequently taken and subscribed the Oath of Allegiance and oath of office prescribed in the Seventh Schedule to this Constitution.
On the removal process for elected local government chairmen and vice-chairmen, the document states that “The Chairman or Vice-Chairman of a Local Government may be removed from office in accordance with the provisions of this section.
“Whenever a notice of any allegation in writing signed by not less than one-third of the members of the Local Government council – (a) is presented to the Speaker of the Local Government council; (b) stating that the holder of such office is guilty of gross misconduct in the performance of the functions of his office, detailed particulars of which shall be specified, the Speaker of the Local Government council shall, within seven days of the receipt of the notice, cause a copy of the notice to be served on the holder of the office and on each member of the Local Government Council and shall also cause any statement made in reply to the allegation by the holder of the office, to be served on each member of the Local Government Council.
“Within fourteen days of the presentation of the notice to the Speaker of the Local Government Council (whether or not any statement was made by the holder of the office in reply to the allegation contained in the notice), the Local Government Council shall resolve by motion, without any debate, whether or not the allegation shall be investigated.
“A motion of the Local Government Council that the allegation be investigated shall not be declared as having been passed unless it is supported by the votes of not less than two-thirds of all the members of the Local Government Council.
“Within seven days of the passing of a motion under the foregoing provisions of this section, the Chief Judge of the State shall at the request of the Speaker of the Local Government Council, appoint a panel of seven persons who in his opinion are of unquestionable integrity, not being members of any public service, legislative house or political party, to investigate the allegation as provided in this section.
“The holder of an office whose conduct is being investigated under this section shall have the right to defend himself in person or be represented before the panel by a legal practitioner of his own choice.
“A panel appointed under subsection 9(5) of this section shall –(a) have such powers and exercise its functions in accordance with such procedure as may be prescribed by the Local Government Legislative Council; and (b) within three months of its appointment, report its findings to the Local Government Legislative Council.
“Where the panel reports to the Local Government Legislative Council that the allegation has not been proved, no further proceedings shall be taken in respect of the matter.
“Where the report of the panel is that the allegation against the holder of the office has been proved, then within fourteen days of the receipt of the report, the Local Government Council shall consider the report, and if by a resolution of the local government legislative council, supported by not less than two-thirds majority of all its members, the report of the panel is adopted, then the holder of the office shall stand removed from office as from the date of the adoption of the report.
“No proceedings or determination of the panel or of the Local Government Legislative Council or any matter relating to such proceedings or determination shall be entertained or questioned in any court.”
