ASABA/Nigeria: Delta State Governor, Senator (Dr) Ifeanyi Okowa, has assented to the bill passed in the state House of Assembly to regulate the activities of all the Community Development Associations (CDA) in the state.
The assented bill which is to be known as the “DELTA STATE REGULATION OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION LAW 2021” has placed the registration, regulation and electoral supervision of all the CDAs in the state under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Women Affairs, Community and Social Development.
Notwithstanding the registration with any other regulatory body in Nigeria, it is mandatory for all the CDAs to apply and be registered by the ministry, just as section 5 of the new law and any other conditions as may be stipulated by the ministry required all the CDAs upon application for registration accompany such request with relevant documents, including the certificate of registration with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), a copy of the constitution, bye-law or any other article of association of the CDA, a list of the names, addresses, positions, date of election, expiration of tenure of the elected officials of the association and any other relevant information or documents that may be required by the ministry.
The law required all the CDAs in the state to have approved set of goals, objectives and clearly stated constitution.
To qualify to contest as a member of the Executive Committee of any CDA in the state, the person must be an indigene of the community, must be of proven integrity, has a minimum educational qualification of Senior Secondary School Certificate or its equivalent, not bankrupt or convicted in a court of Law and must be of sound mind.
The new law stipulated that all executive positions in the CDAs must be filled through elections which must be conducted, at least, three months to the expiration of that position and supervised by the ministry.
It provided further that all positions must be rotated among the families, clans or quarters in the community, that no clan, family or quarter in a community would hold an office in perpetuity to the exclusion of other members of the community and that all elected officials who should be issued a certificate of recognition each by the ministry should hold such an office for a period not more than three years, but could be reelected for another term of same period and no more.
The new law clarified that in the face of an elected executive found wanting, such an officer could be removed from office by 2/3 majority of the Executive Committee of the CDA after notifying the ministry as stipulated in section 2 of the Law.
The new law forbade parallel CDAs in the communities and stipulated punitive measures to include a minimum fine of N500,000 or two years imprisonment or both for anybody operating an unregistered CDA while a minimum fine of N250,000 or one year imprisonment or both awaited any one operating without being duly registered and without certificate of recognition.
It also stipulated that all the CDAs must notify the ministry of the end of the tenure of the Executive Committee and propose a date for election of new officers, at least, six months to the expiration of the serving officers.
It also stipulated that the Magistrate Courts had the jurisdiction over matters arising from the new Law.
