The House of Representatives, on Tuesday – yesterday, February 18 – resolved to summon the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC), Prof. Yakubu Mahmood, over the delay by the commission to conduct bye-elections into vacant national and state assembly seats.
Consequently, the House mandated its Committee on Electoral Matters to investigate the electoral body over its inability to conduct pending bye-elections.
The parliament, which took the resolution, following a motion by Jafaru Leko, also mandated its Committee on Legislative Compliance to ensure implementation and report back to it within four weeks for further legislative action.
Leko, in his motion, informed the House that there are presently many vacant seats in both the National and state assemblies, which he attributed to the failure of INEC to conduct by-elections to fill the seats, thereby leaving the constituents from the affected areas without representatives.
“Since the 2023 general and subsequent elections, there have been instances of resignations, deaths, appointments, or appointments of former members of both the National and State Assemblies to executive positions,” Leko noted.
“Section 68 of the Constitution provides for the cessation and vacation of seats of the National Assembly, whereas section 76(2) stresses the need for a by-election to be conducted not later than one month after the vacancy occurs;
“Upon the declaration of these seats as vacant, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is obligated, under the provisions of Section 76(2), to conduct bye-elections to fill the vacant positions and ensure proper representation of the affected constituencies. ”
“Nigeria practices a constitutional democracy that the continued vacancy of these seats, without the holding of timely by-elections, results in the disenfranchisement of the affected citizens, which constitutes a violation of the constitutional principles of representation and deprives the electorate of their right to adequate representation, the lawmaker further argued.
“The delay in conducting the be-elections for the vacant seats is a contravention of constitutional provision, a breach of the due process and denial of the affected constituencies their right to proper representation.
“This Electoral inaction from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) violates the principles of democracy and representative governance, leaving citizens unrepresented, and also obstructs legislative activities, as Committees and Plenary Sessions lack full participation from duly elected members.”
