Section 109 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria
Section 109 of the Constitution of Nigeria 1999 is about Tenure of seat of Members. It is under Chapter V (The legislature) of the Act.
(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 provided 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 any other 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.
Credit: Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC)
