Lagos State House of Assembly has on Monday reviewed and amended the law creating the state’s Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), giving the governor more powers.
The amendment involved the addition of a new subsection to Section 2 of LASIEC law to enable the governor to have power to extend the tenure of the commission based on exigencies.
The law establishing LASIEC provides for the Chairman and six Commissioners appointed for a five-year tenure.
The legislature revised the law by creating a subsection for Section 2 of the law.
The newly-added subsection 5 gives the Governor of the State the power to extend the tenure of the commission based on exigencies.
The tenure of the current LASIEC chairman, Ayotunde Philip, who was nominated by former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in May 2016, and confirmed by the House one month later, elapses this year.
Sanai Agunbiade (Ikorodu 2), the Leader of the House, said the amendment was permitted by existing law.
Another lawmaker, Victor Akande (Ojo 1), the Chairman of Committee on Judiciary, Public Petitions and LASIEC, stated that the amendment was to resolve the lacuna that could occur between the period the tenure of the commission elapses and when new members are appointed by the Governor.
Akande said it seeks to resolve the lacuna that could occur between the period the tenure of the commission elapses and when new members are appointed by the Governor.
He noted;
The bill is just for a singular amendment or a fraction of the law and the major issue is that it is seeking for us to give the Governor a leverage in case of scarcity of time.
Contributing, Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti-Osa 2) suggested that the amendment ensures that there be recourse to the House should there be any reason to extend the tenure of the commission.
Concluding the debate, Speaker of the House, Mudashiru Obasa (Agege 1), explained that the portion of the law was being amended to meet the exigencies of the time.
He said the amendment became expedient to ensure that the process leading to the effective conclusion of the local government election in Lagos State is not hampered as a result of the soon-to-end tenure of the members of LASIEC.
To this end, Obasa argued, a legal extension of the members of the commission would help them effectively conclude the elections with the backing of the law.
He, however, noted that an additional six months as suggested by the bill was too wide since the period is simply meant to perfect fresh appointments.
While suggesting a reduction of the time period to three months, the Speaker also opined that the request for such extension should be subject to a review and approval of the House.
He directed the Clerk of the House, Olalekan Onafeko, to pass the clean copy to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for assent.
