Section 106-111 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999
Section 106 to 111 of the constitution of Nigeria is titled Qualification of Membership of House of Assembly and Right of Attendance. It is C under Part II (House of Assembly of a State) of Chapter V (The Legislature) of the constitution.
Section 106 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999
Qualifications for election
Subject to the provisions of section 107 of this Constitution, a person shall be qualified for election as a
member of a House of Assembly if –
(a) he is a citizen of Nigeria;
(b) he has attained the age of thirty years;
(c) he has been educated up to at least the School Certificate level or its equivalent; and
(d) he is a member of a political party and is sponsored by that party.
Section 107 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999
Disqualifications
(1) No person shall be qualified for election to a House of Assembly if –
(a) subject to the provisions of Section 28 of this Constitution, he has voluntarily acquired the citizenship of a
country other than Nigeria or, except in such cases as may be prescribed by the National Assembly, has made a
declaration of allegiance to such a country;
(b) under any law in force in any part of Nigeria, he is adjudged to be a lunatic or otherwise declared to be of
unsound mind;
(c) he is under a sentence of death imposed on him by any competent court of law or tribunal in Nigeria or a
sentence of imprisonment or fine for an offence involving dishonesty or fraud (by whatever name called) or any
other offence imposed on him by such a court or tribunal substituted by a competent authority for any other sentence
imposed on him by such a court or tribunal;
(d) within a period of less than ten years before the date of an election to the House of Assembly, he has been
convicted and sentenced for an offence involving dishonesty or he has been found guilty of a contravention of the
Code of Conduct;
(e) he is an undischarged bankrupt, having been adjudged or otherwise declared bankrupt under any law in force in
any part of Nigeria;
(f) he is a person employed in the public service of the Federation or of any State and he has not resigned,
withdrawn or retired from such employment thirty days before the date of election;
(g) he is a member of any secret society;
(h) he has been indicted for embezzlement or fraud by a Judicial Commission of Inquiry or an Administrative Panel
of Inquiry or a Tribunal set up under the Tribunals of Inquiry Act, a Tribunals of Inquiry Law or any other law by
the Federal and State Government which indictment has been accepted by the Federal or State Government,
respectively; or
(i) he has presented a forged certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission.
(2) Where in respect of any person who has been –
(a) adjudged to be a lunatic;
(b) declared to be of unsound mind;
(c) sentenced to death or imprisonment; or
(d) adjudged or declared bankrupt,
any appeal against the decision is pending in any court of law in accordance with any law in force in Nigeria,
subsection (1) of this section shall not apply during a period beginning from the date when such appeal is lodged and
ending on the date when the appeal is finally determined or, as the case may be, the appeal lapses or is abandoned,
whichever is earlier.
(3) For the purposes of subsection (2) of this section, an “appeal” includes any application for an injunction or an
order of certiorari, mandamus, prohibition or habeas corpus, or any appeal from any such application.
Section 108 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999
Right of attendance of President
(1) The Governor of a State may attend a meeting of a House of Assembly of the State either to deliver an
address on State affairs or to make such statement on the policy of government as he may consider to be of
importance to the State.
(2) A Commissioner of the Government of a State shall attend the House of Assembly of the State if invited to
explain to the House of Assembly the conduct of his Ministry, and in particular when the affairs of that Ministry are
under discussion.
(3) Nothing in this section shall enable any person who is not a member of a House of Assembly to vote in that
House or in any of its committees.
Section 109 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999
Tenure of Seat of Members
(1) A member of a House of Assembly shall vacate his seat in the House if –
(a) he becomes a member of another legislative house;
(b) any other circumstances arise that, if he were not a member of that House, would cause him to be disqualified for
election as such a member;
(c) he ceases to be a citizen of Nigeria;
(d) he becomes President, Vice-President, Governor, Deputy Governor or a Minister of the Government of the
Federation or a Commissioner of the Government of a State or a Special Adviser;
(e) save as otherwise prescribed by this Constitution, he becomes a member of a commission or other body
established by this Constitution or by any other law;
(f) without just cause he is absent from meetings of the House of Assembly for a period amounting in the aggregate
to more than one-third of the total number of days during which the House meets in any one year;
(g) being a person whose election to the House of Assembly was sponsored by a political party, he becomes a
member of another political party before the expiration of the period for which that House was elected:
Provided that his membership of the latter political party is not as a result of a division in the political party of which
he was previously a member or of a merger of two or more political parties or factions by one of which he was
previously sponsored; or
(h) the Speaker of the House of Assembly receives a certificate under the hand of the Chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission stating that the provisions of section 110 of this Constitution have been complied
with in respect of the recall of the member.
(2) The Speaker of the House of Assembly shall give effect to subsection (1) of this section, so however that the
Speaker or a member shall first present evidence satisfactory to the House that any of the provisions of that
subsection has become applicable in respect of the member.
(3) A member of a House of Assembly shall be deemed to be absent without just cause from a meeting of the House
of Assembly unless the person presiding certifies in writing that he is satisfied that the absence of the member from
the meeting was for a just cause.
Section 110 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999
Recall
A member of the House of Assembly may be recalled as such a member if –
(a) there is presented to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission a petition in that behalf
signed by more than one-half of the persons registered to vote in that members’s constituency alleging their loss of
confidence in that member; and
(b) the petition is thereafter, in a referendum conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission within
ninety days of the date of the receipt of the petition, approved by a simple majority of the votes of the persons
registered to vote in that member’s constituency.
Section 111 of the Nigerian Constitution 1999
Remuneration
A member of the House of Assembly shall receive such salary and other allowances as the Revenue
Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission may determine.
