The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has declared three senatorial seats vacant following the deaths of serving lawmakers.
The affected constituencies are Enugu North, Nasarawa North, and Rivers South-East senatorial districts. Akpabio made the announcement during plenary on Tuesday, explaining that the action was in line with constitutional provisions.
“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 seats left vacant by the demise of our colleagues,” he said.
He subsequently directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to organise by-elections to fill the vacant seats within the timeframe specified by law.
“In line with the provisions of our Constitution, INEC is mandated to conduct fresh polls to fill these vacant senatorial seats in the affected states within about 30 days from this declaration,” Akpabio added.
The move is expected to pave the way for new representatives to emerge and restore full representation for the affected districts in the Senate.
