Section 103
Date of Area Council elections and method of voting(1) Election into all the Area Councils shall be held on the same date and day throughout the Federal Capital Territory.
(2) Bye-elections to fill vacancies that occur in Area Councils shall be held within 30 days from the date the vacancy occurred.
(3) The date mentioned in subsection (1) shall not be earlier than 150 days before and not later than 30 days before the expiration of the term of office of the last holder of that office.
(4) Where a vacancy occurs more than three months before the day the Area Council stands dissolved there shall be a bye-election to fill the vacancy not later than 30 days from the date the vacancy occurred.
(5) Voting shall be by open-secret ballot.
This provision indicates that Area Council elections will be held on the same date and day in the FCT.
In cases of bye-elections for vacancies that occur, the election must be held within 30 days from the date of the vacancy. Though the date for elections is to be determined by INEC, the law places a statutory limit of at most 150 days to the expiration of a holder’s term before a new election takes place and at least 30 days to the expiration of the holder’s term, leaving a window of 120 days for the conduct of elections across FCT Area Councils.
In events where there is a vacancy more than three months before the expiration of the term of an office holder, a bye-election will take place, but if such vacancy occurs less than three months to the expiration, it will be subsumed under the general Area Council elections; in other words, there would be no bye-election. Like all other elections, Area Council elections will be by Open Secret Ballot.
