CONSTITUTIONAL LAW — Tenure of Office — Governor — Computation of Four-Year Term Under Section 180(2)(a)
Principle Statement
The four-year tenure of a Governor first elected under the 1999 Constitution commences from the date of the oath of office, and the word "uninterrupted" does not qualify the tenure. The court must not import words not used by the legislature into the constitutional provision.
Ratio Decidendi (Source)
Per Aderemi, JSC, in Ladoja v. INEC & Ors (2007) NLC-123-120-2007(SC) at pp. 56–57; Paras A–C.
"The wordings of Section 180 (2) (a) and (b) are very clear and unambiguous. Being a person first elected as Governor, his four-year tenure would start to run from the 29th of May 2003. ... the word 'Uninterrupted' was not used to qualify the four-year tenure to which the plaintiff/appellant was entitled as Governor of Oyo State. It is a firm canon of interpretation of the provisions of a statute or the Constitution that words not used by the legislators must not be imported into the wordings of the provision by a 'judex'."
Explanation / Scope
Explanation/Scope:
The principle governs the interpretation of constitutional provisions on tenure of office. Section 180(2)(a) of the 1999 Constitution provides a clear and unambiguous fixed term of four years from the date of oath. The court will not read into the provision a qualification such as “uninterrupted” where none exists. The cardinal rule of interpretation is that where the language is plain, the court must give it its ordinary meaning. The court cannot engage in judicial legislation by importing words or creating exceptions not contemplated by the framers of the Constitution. The principle ensures certainty in the computation of tenure and prevents arbitrary extensions. It applies strictly to constitutional interpretation, where the text must be given its natural and ordinary meaning.
