The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has clarified the commission’s stance regarding the ongoing controversy within the Rivers State House of Assembly.
According to Yakubu, INEC has refrained from intervening due to conflicting court judgments surrounding the assembly’s legitimacy.
The crisis stems from an ongoing power tussle between two factions within the Rivers Assembly, with one side loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the other to the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike.
Fubara’s faction recently urged INEC to conduct bye-elections to fill the seats of 25 assembly members aligned with Wike, who were allegedly declared vacant.
At a stakeholder meeting with media executives in Abuja, Yakubu disclosed that the commission’s inaction was due to “several conflicting court judgments” at both state and federal levels, making it challenging for INEC to determine the legitimacy of the factions involved.
Yakubu said, “The seats of 25 members of the Rivers State House of Assembly were declared vacant by three other members. In retaliation, the 25 members declared the seats of those three vacant.
“The court judgments from Rivers High Court and Federal High Court offer differing views on the legitimacy of these lawmakers, and INEC has been closely monitoring these developments.”
The INEC chairman further noted that, in addition to the Rivers Assembly issue, the commission has been preparing to conduct bye-elections for various House of Representatives and House of Assembly seats across the country that have been declared vacant due to deaths or resignations of members.
INEC is looking to schedule these bye-elections by mid-December.
Yakubu also discussed the logistical challenges posed by frequent bye-elections, noting that since July 2023, the commission has managed around 20 bye-elections nationwide.
To address this, INEC is exploring an alternative approach in which political parties might directly nominate a new representative to fill a vacant seat left by a deceased or resigned member. Yakubu pointed out that this practice is common in other democracies and would save INEC considerable resources.
Regarding the upcoming Ondo State governorship election, Yakubu assured that the commission has incorporated lessons from previous elections to enhance voter accreditation and the prompt upload of results on the INEC Result Viewing (IReV) portal.
The INEC chairman urged Nigerians, particularly legal experts, to provide input on these potential changes to the electoral process, emphasizing that the commission’s goal is to ensure consistency, legitimacy, and efficiency in addressing electoral issues.