The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says its silence on the controversy trailing the Rivers Assembly is due to the several conflicting court judgments on the crisis in the Assembly.
Recall that the leadership of the faction loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara wrote the commission to conduct a by-election to fill the position of the 25 members of the Assembly loyal to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Some Nigerians also accused INEC of failing to act on the request by the lawmakers.
The Chairman of the Commission, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu while speaking at a stakeholders meeting with Media Executives at the Commission headquarters in Abuja, noted that as a result of the crisis and the conflicting judgments of courts at the state and federal levels, the commission has also not conducted the by-election into the Assembly occasioned by the death of one of the members.
Yakubu also revealed that the Commission was looking towards the middle of December to conduct by-elections into the vacant seats at the House of Representatives following the death of members and the seats declared vacant
“The seats of 25 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly were declared vacant by three other members. The 25 members also declared the seat of the three vacant.
“After that, there was a court judgment from the Rivers High Court as well as the Federal High Court on the legitimacy of each of this group of lawmakers. We at INEC have been following the development. We don’t know what will happen next and so, we are seeking the views of Nigerians, especially legal experts on this,” he said.
Speaking on the by-elections, the INEC boss said the commission was working out the logistics for the conduct, adding that it will soon announce the date for the elections.