Six seats in the Senate and House of Representatives are currently vacant in the National Assembly (NASS).
The vacancies were caused by the death of four of the lawmakers and the election of two others into the offices of governor and deputy governor of Edo State.
Two of the vacant seats are in the Senate – Edo Central Senatorial District hitherto occupied by Senator Monday Okpebholo, who has been inaugurated as Edo State governor and Senator Ifeanyi Ubah, who until his death represented Anambra South Senatorial Zone.
The Edo Central seat became vacant after Okpebholo assumed office as governor on November 12, 2024.
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.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is expected to announce dates for bye-elections to fill the vacant Edo Central and Anambra South senatorial seats. These elections could significantly reshape the numerical strength of the political parties in the Senate.
These elections will determine who will represent the affected constituencies and could influence the balance of power in the Senate.
The declaration of the Edo Central seat as vacant followed a letter from the Senate minority leader, Senator Abba Moro, urging the senate president to notify INEC of the need for a bye-election.
And following the election of the member representing Ovia North East/Ovia North West federal constituency of Edo State, Hon Dennis Idahosa, as deputy governor, the seat has been declared vacant.
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.
LEADERSHIP Sunday learnt that INEC has yet to fix the date for bye-elections into the vacant seats, leaving the constituencies without representatives.