The National Assembly (NASS) currently has six vacant Senate and House of Representatives seats.
Four parliamentarian passed away, and two more were elected to Edo State’s governor and deputy governor positions, creating the vacancy. Two of the Senate’s vacant seats are in the Edo Central Senatorial District, which was previously held by Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, who served until his death, and Senator Monday Okpebholo who was elected as the governor of Edo State.
On November 12, 2024, Okpebholo took over as governor, leaving the Edo Central seat empty.
While declaring his seat vacant, the senate president, Godwill Akpabio said, “this development adheres to Section 68(1)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, which stipulates that a lawmaker’s seat becomes vacant upon assuming another public office.”
With these developments, the 109-member Senate now operates with 107 members. The current party composition in the chamber is as follows: APC holds 63 seats, PDP 34, Labour Party 5, NNPP 2, SDP 2, and APGA 1.
Dates for bye-elections to fill the vacancies in the senatorial seats of Edo Central and Anambra South are anticipated to be announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The Senate’s political parties’ numerical strength could be drastically altered by these elections.
These elections could affect the Senate’s power balance and decide who will represent the impacted constituencies. Following a letter from Senate minority leader Senator Abba Moro requesting that the Senate president inform INEC of the necessity of a bye-election, the Edo Central seat was declared vacant.
Additionally, the seat has been declared vacant when Hon. Dennis Idahosa, the member representing Edo State’s Ovia North East/Ovia North West federal district, was elected deputy governor.
This brings the number of vacant seats in the House of Representatives to four which INEC is expected to conduct by-elections to fill.
The other three seats became vacant after the death of Hon Ekene Adams (Kaduna), Olaide Akinyemi, Musiliudeen Akinremi (Oyo) and Isah Dogonyaro (Jigawa).
The speaker, Tajudeen Abbas, declared Idahosa’s seat vacant sequel to a request made by the house leader, Hon Julius Ihonvbere, in a letter read on the floor of the House.
In the letter, Ihonvbere prayed the House to begin the process of electing a new representative for Idahosa’s constituency, following his election as the deputy governor of Edo State at the September 21 governorship election.
“We must now proceed with the necessary steps to replace him,” Ihonvbere said.
INEC has yet to fix the date for bye-elections into the vacant seats, leaving the constituencies without representatives.
