The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has called for a different approach in filling vacant seats in the National Assembly (NASS).
INEC decried the rate of vacancies in NASS, which is caused by various reasons, including death and resignation, noting that conducting bye-elections to fill the voids are difficult to plan as they are “unpredictable and unbudgeted”.
The Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu made the call at the first regular consultative meeting with political parties held at the INEC Conference Room, Abuja on Wednesday.
His words: “In due course, the Commission will come up with plans for other routine activities such as the resumption of nationwide Continuous Voter registration (CVR) and the conduct of outstanding bye-elections. Over the last one and a half years since the inauguration of the current National and State Assemblies in June 2023, vacancies have occurred in 23 constituencies as a result of death of serving members or their voluntary resignation for executive positions at Federal, State and even Local Government levels as Ministers, Commissioners, Chairman of a Local Government and even board appointment.
“While the Commission has conducted nine bye-elections early last year, 14 more vacancies have occurred since then. They are unpredictable, unbudgeted and difficult to plan in advance. Worse, some bye-elections lead to more bye-elections. There were situations where a bye-election in one Senatorial District was won by a serving member of the House of Representatives from the same District thereby creating another vacancy.
“In turn, a member of the State Assembly won the bye-election to the House of Representatives thereby creating a vacancy in the State Assembly. Consequently, one bye-election led to three bye-elections. Not only are these bye-elections costly, they also divert the Commission’s attention from its other extensive electoral responsibilities.”
Mr. Yakubu revealed that the Commission has been advocating for a more cost-effective alternative means of filling vacancies since 2016, like it is done in many jurisdictions around the world.
The Chairman disclosed that INEC has also been appealing to stakeholders, including political parties, to join the advocacy in order to have the law amended accordingly by the National Assembly.
He added: “Just three weeks ago, we canvassed this position once again during the defence of our 2025 budget before the joint committee of the Senate and House of Representatives at the National Assembly.
“We are glad that more Nigerians are now joining the advocacy. We hope that working together, we will continue to reform and improve on our electoral process.”
