1st Alteration2010· Act No. 1, 2010
Constitution (First Alteration) Act, 2010
Electoral timelines, INEC chairman tenure, by-election windows — the post-Yar'Adua reform package.
The record
The First Alteration Act was assented to on 10 July 2010 by President Goodluck Jonathan after the National Assembly, the State Houses of Assembly and the Council of State had completed the requirements of section 9 of the Constitution. It was the first time since 1999 that the entrenchment provisions of section 9 had been successfully invoked.
The Act was the legislative response to the 2007 election crisis and the Yar'Adua succession. It tightened the timelines for the National Assembly and presidential elections, fixed a four-year non-renewable tenure for the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, set new windows for by-elections (21 days), and clarified the order of succession to the office of the President — language that became central to the 'Doctrine of Necessity' resolution of 9 February 2010.
Together with the Second and Third Alterations of the same year, this Act was the first deep edit of the 1999 Constitution and remains the template for every later amendment package.
Sections altered
- §9 →
Confirmed the alteration procedure used to enact the Act.
- §76 →
Election timelines for the National Assembly: not later than 30 days, not earlier than 150 days before the term ends.
- §132 →
Election timelines for the President: same 30/150-day window.
- §145 →
Acting President provisions — letter to the President of the Senate and Speaker before the President proceeds on vacation. Codified the 'Doctrine of Necessity' precedent.
- §153 →
Federal executive bodies, including the Police Service Commission and INEC, with reinforced independence.
- §178 →
Election timelines for state Governors — same 30/150-day window.
- §190 →
Acting Governor provisions, mirroring §145.
- §233 →
Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court — election-petition appeals.
- §239 →
Jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal — original jurisdiction over presidential-election petitions.
- §285 →
180-day rule for election-petition tribunals to deliver judgment; 60 days for appeals.
- §287 →
Enforcement of decisions across courts of record.
- §318 →
Interpretation amendments to align with the new electoral language.
Notable cases
ANPP v. Goni (2012)
(2012) 7 NWLR (Pt 1298) 147
The 180-day rule in §285(6) runs from the date of filing of the petition and cannot be extended by the tribunal.
Tier 1 · primary
Courts. Gazettes. National archives.
Tier 2 · corroborating
OCCRP. HRW. BudgIT. TheCable.
Tier 4 · tertiary, flagged
Wikipedia only where primary is pending. Always labelled.