Section 150
Procedure for Local Government Election in furtherance of paragraph 11 of Part II of the Second Schedule to the Constitution(1) In furtherance of the provision of paragraph 11 of Part II of the Second Schedule to the Constitution, the procedure regulating elections conducted by the Commission to Area Councils in the Federal Capital Territory under this Act shall be the same and apply with equal force as the procedure regulating elections conducted to Local Government Areas by any State Commission.
(2) For the purpose of subsection (1), a State Commission shall be deemed to have and exercise the powers of the Commission in respect of the procedure regulating elections to Area Councils under this Act.
(3) Any election to a Local Government Area that is conducted by a State Commission in violation of subsection (1) shall be invalid.
(4) Any official of a State Commission who contravenes the provision of subsection (1) commits an offence and shall be subject to prosecution as if he were an official of the Commission who committed the same offence under this Act.
Cap. C23 LFN, 2004.This is an introduction to the Electoral Act that extends the application of the provisions of the Act dealing with the conduct of FCT Area Council Elections to Local Government elections conducted by State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs).
Failure to abide by these provisions would render the election to the Local Government Area invalid. State officials who are in default of the provisions will also face prosecution the same way an INEC official would.
The aim is to help sanitise the electoral process at the local government level, which is widely known to be arbitrary although States often have their own enacted State Electoral Laws.
Note: Paragraph 11 of the 2nd Schedule to the 1999 Constitution allows the National Assembly to make laws for the Federation with respect to the registration of voters and the procedure regulating elections to a local government council. Paragraph 12 of the 2nd Schedule says that: “Nothing in paragraph 11 hereof shall preclude a House of Assembly from making laws with respect to election to a local government council in addition to but not inconsistent with any law made by the National Assembly.”
Paragraphs 11 and 12 of the Second Schedule to the 1999 Constitution
