Calls on President Tinubu, Sanwo-Olu to Halt “Unconstitutional Third Terms”
By Our Reporter
A civic group, Lagos Society for Good Governance (LSGG), has raised concerns over what it describes as unconstitutional attempts by some Local Council Development Area (LCDA) chairpersons in Lagos State to illegally extend their tenures beyond constitutional limits. The group has called for urgent intervention from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to protect democratic governance at the grassroots.
In a statement signed by its Coordinator, Ademola Gafar, the group warned that allowing such tenure elongations would violate both the Nigerian Constitution and recent electoral reforms meant to safeguard term limits for public officials.
Citing specific cases, the group alleged that Famuyiwa, Chairman of Agbado Oke-Odo LCDA, is attempting to seek a third term after initially completing the tenure of his late predecessor and winning re-election in 2021. Similar concerns were raised over the succession and re-election patterns in Onigbongbo and Ikosi-Isheri LCDAs.
The LSGG stressed that such actions contravene the Fourth Alteration No. 16 to the 1999 Constitution, which restricts individuals who complete another’s term due to death, resignation, or removal to only one additional term in office.
“The normalization of constitutional violations, no matter how subtle, poses the greatest threat to democracy,” the statement quoted Nobel Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka as warning.
The group also appealed to President Tinubu to reaffirm his longstanding opposition to term elongation schemes — a principle he notably defended during the Olusegun Obasanjo administration.
“We urge President Tinubu to exercise moral leadership by directing the Attorney-General of the Federation, Lateef Fagbemi SAN, to issue a clear advisory, and by ensuring that the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) strictly enforces constitutional limits in the forthcoming local elections,” the statement read.
The LSGG further called on candidates affected by these constitutional provisions to voluntarily withdraw from the elections in the interest of upholding democratic integrity.
“Lagos must not set a dangerous precedent. As Nigeria’s Centre of Excellence, it should lead by example in protecting constitutional governance,” the group concluded, pledging to use all lawful means to resist any subversion of the electoral process.
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