The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) High Court sitting in Kubwa district under Justice Mohammed Ibrahim has set aside the judgment given in favour of tenure elongation for the six FCT Area Council chairmen and their councilors elected in 2019 for a three-year tenure.
The court also ordered the immediate swearing-in of the newly elected chairmen and their councillors.
It would be recalled that on May 18, 2022, an FCT High Court in Kubwa district suspended the swearing-in of the newly elected chairmen and the councillors over additional one-year tenure elongation for the outgoing council chairmen, purportedly alluding to a provision of the Electoral Act 2022.
The court verdict generated confusion in the territory, and the legal team of the FCTA had to seek redress of the judgment in court.
Justice Ibrahim Mohammed while delivering a fresh judgment on Thursday, clarified that everyone is in a learning process, that humans are bound to make mistakes and also bound to make corrections.
He said that it was very clear that some mistakes were made and a judgment was entered, which brought a lot of issues concerning the elongation of the tenure of the outgoing chairmen in the six area councils.
Mohammed further said that in his wisdom, he has vacated the first judgment that was given by him and, therefore, directed that the new Area Council chairmen who were elected and issued certificates of return be sworn-in by the FCT Minister immediately.
