2.1 The SURCON Act: Establishment, Membership and Functions

2.1 The SURCON Act: Establishment, Membership and Functions

Statutory reference: Surveyors Registration Council of Nigeria Act, 1989 No. 44, commencement 15 December 1989, now Cap S18 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. Long title: "An Act to establish the Surveyors Registration Council of Nigeria for the registration of surveyors and to provide extensively for the regulation of the practice of the profession."

The Act replaced a colonial licensing regime. Section 22(1) repeals the Survey Act 1958 and the Survey Act 1970, and section 22(2) dissolves the Surveyors Licensing Board established under the Survey Act, deploying its employees to the Council and vesting its property in the Council without further assurance.

One naming point matters in a law paper. The Act's short title (s.24) is the Surveyors Registration Council of Nigeria Act, but the body it establishes is named in section 1(1) as the Surveyors Council of Nigeria - the origin of the acronym SURCON. Both names are correct in their own place.

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1. Establishment and legal status (section 1)

Section 1(1) establishes the body. Section 1(2) gives it three corporate attributes, and only three:

• it is a body corporate;
• with perpetual succession and a common seal; and
• it may sue and be sued in its corporate name.

Do not add powers the section does not contain. The Council's dealings with property are constrained rather than expanded elsewhere: section 5(6) provides that the Council shall not have power to borrow money or dispose of any property except with the prior consent of the Minister, and shall not pay remuneration, allowances or expenses to any member, employee or other person except in accordance with scales approved by the Minister.

The common seal is dealt with in the First Schedule, paragraph 5: fixing the seal is authenticated by the signature of the president or another member authorised by the Council, and a document purporting to be executed under the seal is received in evidence and deemed so executed unless the contrary is proved.

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2. Membership of the Council (section 2)

This is the single most misquoted provision in the Act. Section 2(1) provides that the Council shall consist of a president, who shall be a surveyor, appointed by the President of Nigeria, and the following other members:

Four traps follow directly from the text:

1. The Nigerian Institute of Surveyors seats are twelve and elected, not a smaller number appointed. Those twelve members matter again at section 16(2), which requires that not fewer than four of the Disciplinary Committee's members be drawn from them.
2. The State representatives are the Surveyors-General ex officio, not nominees of State Governors.
3. The Surveyor-General of the Federation sits within the block of five presidential appointees under paragraph (a), not as a separate single seat.
4. The president of the Council must be a surveyor appointed by the President of Nigeria. The Act imposes no "twelve years' post-registration standing" requirement; the general member qualification in section 3(1) is five years' practice.

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3. Qualifications, tenure and vacancy (section 3)

Section 3(1): a person shall not be appointed a member unless he is a citizen of Nigeria, is fully registered or qualified for registration as a surveyor under the Act, and has been engaged in the practice of the profession for not less than five years.

Section 3(2): the president holds office for three years, is eligible for re-appointment for one further period of three years, and thereafter is no longer eligible. Section 3(3): other non-ex-officio members hold office for three years.

Section 3(4): the office of a member becomes vacant if he becomes bankrupt or makes arrangements with his creditors; is unable through physical or mental illness to discharge his functions; or is convicted of an offence involving dishonesty, fraud or moral turpitude.

Section 3(5) allows resignation by notice to the Minister, but not by members holding office by virtue of paragraphs (b) and (c) of section 2(1). Section 3(7) requires the appointing or electing body to fill a casual vacancy for the residue of the term - unless the residue does not exceed one year.

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4. Functions of the Council (section 4)

The Council is charged with the general duty of:

• (a) determining who are surveyors for the purposes of the Act;
• (b) determining what standards of knowledge and skill are to be attained by persons seeking to become registered, and reviewing those standards from time to time;
• (c) securing the establishment and maintenance of a register of persons entitled to practise, and the publication from time to time of lists of such persons;
• (d) regulating and controlling the practice of the profession in all its ramifications;
• (e) maintaining discipline within the profession; and
• (f) performing the other functions conferred by the Act.

Paragraph (d) is the hook on which the Council's regulatory instruments hang, and paragraph (b) is the source of the examination you are sitting.

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5. Money and ministerial control (sections 5 and 6)

The Council maintains a fund credited with Federal Government grants or loans and all other monies accruing under the Act. It must submit an estimate of expenditure and income not later than 30 September each year, keep proper accounts and have them audited, and submit an annual report with the audited accounts and auditors' report.

Section 6 permits the Minister to give the Council directives of a general character or relating generally to particular matters - but not to any individual person or case - and imposes a duty on the Council to comply. That carve-out is the guarantee of independence in individual registration and disciplinary decisions.

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6. Procedure: the First Schedule