The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, on Tuesday declared three senatorial seats vacant following the deaths of members of the 10th Senate.
The affected constituencies are Enugu North Senatorial District, Nasarawa North Senatorial District, and Rivers South-East Senatorial District.
Akpabio made the announcement during plenary, explaining that the declaration was in line with constitutional provisions governing vacancies in the National Assembly.
“Due to the tragedies that have befallen the 10th Senate, vacancies have been created for midterm elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission to ensure that we fill the vacancies created by the demise of our colleagues,” he said.
Citing the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), the Senate President formally declared the seats vacant.
“I hereby declare vacant Enugu North Senatorial District. The seat is hereby declared vacant,” Akpabio stated.
He also declared vacant the seat representing Nasarawa North Senatorial District in Nasarawa State and the seat representing Rivers South-East Senatorial District in Rivers State.
Following the declaration, Akpabio directed the Independent National Electoral Commission to organise by-elections to fill the vacancies within the period stipulated by law.
“In line with the provisions of our Constitution, the Independent National Electoral Commission is accordingly mandated to conduct fresh polls to fill these vacant senatorial seats in the affected states within the time specified in the Constitution, which is about 30 days from this declaration,” he said.
The development paves the way for fresh electoral contests in the affected senatorial districts as political parties prepare to nominate candidates for the by-elections.
The upcoming polls are expected to determine new representatives for the constituencies in the upper chamber of the National Assembly.
