Edo: 9 PDP lawmakers want seats of 14 APC members-elect declared vacant

By Jethro Ibileke

Nine PDP lawmakers in Edo State have called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to withdraw the certificates of return issued to the 14 absentee members-elect in the State.

The lawmakers made the call on Wednesday in Benin, at a press conference held at the PDP secretariat in Benin City.

They also charged the electoral commission to either conduct a by-election to fill the vacant seats or swear-in candidates that came second in the election, to replace those who refused to be inaugurated, to enable their constituencies legislative representation.

Recall that 12 of the 24 lawmakers who were elected in Edo House of Assembly on the platform of the APC during the 2019 general election, allegedly did not turn up for inauguration while two others who were previously inaugurated later made themselves absent

But, the nine PDP lawmakers of Edo House of Assembly in their statement signed by Hon. Igbas Ezehi (Chairman), Victor Nosa Omoregie (Secretary) and seven others, reads in part:

“You will recall the heat generated after the election as well as the inauguration of those declared winners by INEC after the presentation of certificate of returns. This led to the unfortunate situation that has put the Legislative arm of government into an unprecedented and unwarranted representative imbalance.

“As it stands today well over 1.6m constituents have been denied a voice in the State which is tantamount to a breach of the rights as citizens of the various constituencies.

“Section 117 (1) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria stated in quote “Subject to the provisions of this Constitution, every State constituency established in accordance with the provisions of this part of this Chapter shall return one member who shall be directly elected to a House of Assembly in such manner as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.

“From June 17, 2019 to date its already 2 years and 6 months of this breach. In the next 18 months the tenure of that legislative session would have expired without the constitutional representation.

“We are aware that several overtures were made to those who refused to be sworn in but the calls fell on deaf ears. They pitched their tents in Abuja under the sponsorship of their godfathers.

“The Constitution of the country is supreme and its not a respecter of persons. The Speaker of the House invoked section 109: 1(f) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to declare their seats and constituencies vacant calling on INEC to conduct a by- election to fill the vacuum.

“For the benefit of doubt, it is important to filter the 14 vacant seats. Two of them were sworn in and therefore were legally members of the House of Assembly until their seats were declared vacant in line with section 109:1(f) of the Constitution.

“The remaining 12 former members-elect were never sworn in non subjected themselves to oath of office technically indicative of their refusal of the offer to serve the people having been elected and given certificate of return by INEC.”

The nine lawmakers said that to them and in the eyes of the nation’s Constitution, the case of the 14 absentee lawmakers-elect of Edo House of Assembly is closed and forgotten.

“The case of the 14 is a closed one except it is not true that the Constitution is supreme. To continue to discuss their fate will amount to a slap on the integrity of our nation indicative of the misnomer that some few can take the country for granted due to their internal party disagreement. This is a precedent that must not be encouraged in our sociopolitical development as a nation.

“The certificate of return issued to them have stalled and therefore must be withdrawn forthwith.

“Nature abhor vacuum. Therefore an urgent solution must be sought to ensure the four years of the rightful legislative representation of the 14 constituencies is not wasted.

“We believe the option left now for 12 seats is to apply the globally-accepted doctrine of necessity to resolve the logjam. The candidates that came second in the election should be sworn in to replace those who refused to be inaugurated. For the 2 seats of those who were sworn in but refused to continue to sit, INEC should immediately conduct a by election.

“In the alternative, INEC should immediately put in place the process to ensure a by election is conducted in the entire 14 constituencies.

“We call on all the stakeholders, including the press, to intensify efforts aimed at resolving this issue in the interest of the political developments of the State,” the statement said.