Less than 16 days before the conduct of Local Government Elections in Anambra State, the State House of Assembly on Thursday, made yet another amendment to the State Electoral Law.
Recall that the Labour Party and the All Progressives Congress, APC had pulled out of the Local Government Elections proposed by the State Independent Electoral Commission, ANSIEC, to happen on the 28th of September, 2024, on the account of what they called the hasty amendment of the State Electoral Law by the State Legislature last month.
They are also in court, challenging the amendments which they noted were manipulative and targeted as giving the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA in the state, an undue advantage in the proposed elections.
This time, the House is saying the amendment is to make clarification on the tenures of the Chairman, the Deputy, and the Councilors.
The amendment is effected on Section 110 of the Principal Law, where a new subsection 4 was inserted to show clarity in the parent law, and which seeks to dissolve the local government Council at the expiration of a period of two years, commencing from the date of inauguration of the council.
Other amendments addressed typographical errors in the law.
During Thursday’s plenary, the amendments passed through the first, second, and third readings, in line with the Standing Order of the House in Order 74, clause one, where the rule allows the three readings to be completed in one day with the approval of a two-thirds majority of the members present.
The motion for the amendment was moved by the Chairman of the House Committee on Public Petitions and member representing Anambra East Constituency, Barrister Obi Nweke who emphasized that the amendments were necessary to prevent a gap in the local government system and to avoid ambiguity in council tenure.
The Speaker of the House, Rt Hon Somtochukwu Udeze while reading out the bill, which was supported by the lawmakers through a voice vote, stated that the law shall be cited as Anambra State Electoral (Amendment No 3) Law and come into force immediately.
He stated that the tenure is already stipulated in the parent law, but the amendment was to make it all-encompassing for Chairmen, Deputy Chairmen, and Councilors.
