A portion of the law creating the state’s Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has been reviewed and amended by the Lagos Assembly on Monday .
The Assembly amended the law by creating a subsection for Section 2 of the law.
The newly added subsection 5 gives the Governor the power to extend the tenure of the commission’s members based on exigencies.
House Leader Sanai Agunbiade said the amendment was permitted by existing law while Chairman of the Committee on Judiciary, Public Petitions and LASIEC, Victor Akande, explained the amendment would resolve the lacuna that could occur between the time when the tenure of members’ elapse and when new members are appointed by the Governor.
He said: “The bill is just for a singular amendment or a fraction of the law. The major issue is that it is seeking for us to give the Governor leverage in case of scarcity of time.”
Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti-Osa II) said the amendment is in good faith for effective running of the government .
He however suggested the amendment should be in such a way that there would be recourse to the House should there be any reason to extend the tenure of the commission.
Tobun Abiodun (Epe I) supported the amendment and noted that it was being done to ‘ensure we abide by the law’.
According to him, the amended portion of the law states that if the tenure of the commission expires when the government is yet to make fresh appointments, the tenure could be extended by six months.
Speaker Mudashiru Obasa explained the portion of the law was being amended to meet the exigencies of time.
He explained that the amendment became expedient to ensure that the process leading to the effective conclusion of the local government election is not hampered as a result of the soon-to-end tenure of LASIEC.
He directed the Clerk of the House, Mr. Olalekan Onafeko, to pass the clean copy to the Governor for assent.
