Section 109
Vacation of seat of members(1) A member of an Area Council shall vacate his or her seat in the Council—
(a) on the date given in his or her letter of resignation;
(b) if he or she takes up full time paid employment at any level of the government or in the private sector;
(c) if he or she becomes a member of a secret society or does any other thing disqualifying him or her from holding the office of Chairman or Councillor under this Act; or
(d) if the Leader of the Area Legislative Council receives a certificate under the hand of the Commission stating that the provisions of section 113 of this Act have been complied with in respect of the recall of that member.
(2) The Leader of the Area Legislative Council shall give effect to subsection (1), so that the Leader shall first present evidence satisfactory to the Area Council that any of the provisions of that subsection has become applicable in respect of that member.
This provision outlines the instances when a member of an Area Council (legislative arm) is to vacate their seat. These include:
Resignation
Full time paid employment in government or the private sector
Recall of the member
Involvement in acts that disqualify him/her
Vacating a seat in this context does not mean the end of a term of office; it comes before the end of the lifespan or period of that Area Council.
ZAREWA & ANOR v. FALGORE & ORS (2020) LPELR-50870(CA); AKPOTI &ANOR v. INEC & ORS (2020) LPELR-50174(CA)
Section 66 (1), (2) & (3); 107 (1), (2) & (3); 137 (1) & (2) of the 1999 Constitution.
