INEC schedules six bye-elections in Imo, C’River, Ondo, Plateau states for February 22

Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled six bye-elections for Saturday, February 26, this year.

National Commissioner in charge of Information and Voter Education Committee, at INEC, Barr. Festus Okoye disclosed this in a statement on Friday in Abuja.

The bye-elections, according to INEC, will hold in Ondo, Plateau, Cross River and Imo states to fill vacancies declared at federal constituencies in the House of Representatives, as well as, those in the state Assembly.

It would be recalled that last December, Speaker of the Imo State House of Assembly, Kennedy Ibeh, declared vacant the seat of the member representing Ngor Okpala constituency, Tochi Okere.

He also suspended three lawmakers for what he called ‘dereliction of duty.’

The suspended lawmakers are Arthur Eguim (Ideato North), Ngozi Obiefule (Isu), and Obinna Okwara (Nkwerre).

While asking the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct a bye-election to elect a new representative for the constituency, at the plenary on Thursday, December 23, the speaker said the sacking of the Ngor Okpala representative was in line with the house rules and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He said Okere had not attended plenary up to one-third since he was inaugurated as a lawmaker in 2019.

Ibeh disclosed that the assembly’s register indicated that the sacked lawmaker only attended plenary 29 times in 2019, 14 times in 2020 and had not attended plenary in 2021. The speaker also disclosed that the parliament had received two petitions from Ngor Okpala, urging the assembly to declare vacant based on non-performance.

“Following the declaration of vacancies by the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Honourable Speakers of some State Houses of Assembly, the Commission has scheduled bye-elections for six constituencies in 4 States as follows:

“Akure North/Akure South Federal Constituency, Ondo State; Jos North/Bassa Federal Constituency, Plateau State; Pankshin South State Constituency, Plateau State; Ogoja/Yala Federal Constituency, Cross River State; Akpabuyo State Constituency, Cross River State; Ngor-Okpala State Constituency, Imo State.

“The elections will hold on Saturday, February 26 2022, immediately after the FCT Area Council elections. It will enable the Commission to clear most of the bye-elections, focus on the Ekiti and Osun Governorship elections and ongoing preparations for the 2023 General Election.”

According to the statement, some of the vacancies arose due to the death of the previous occupants, substantial disruption of the electoral process and fulfilment of constitutional and legal requirements in the electoral process.

“The Commission considered the issues leading to the vacancies, rescheduling of some elections, and the security situation in some states. The Commission decided to combine the Ekiti East 1 State Constituency election with the Governorship election in Ekiti, to hold June 18, 2022.

“The Commission is consulting with security agencies and the critical stakeholders relating to the vacancy in Shinkafi State Constituency of Zamfara State while the Speaker of the Kaduna State House of Assembly has not declared a vacancy concerning Giwa State Constituency of Kaduna State,” he added.

Okoye added that “political parties that present to the Commission the name of a candidate who does not meet the qualifications stipulated in the Constitution and the Electoral Act shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction shall be liable to a maximum of N500,000.00 fine.”

He also disclosed that the Commission was finalizing all arrangements for the conduct of the Area Council election in the Federal Capital Territory FCT.

“Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) for all new registrants as well as requests for transfers and replacement of damaged cards have been printed and are available in all the six Area Councils for collection. The Commission appeals to citizens who applied for a new registration as well as transfers and replacement of the PVCs to do so immediately and avoid the last-minute rush for these cards, as has been the case in the past,” Okoye added.