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Amid ongoing tension over the withholding of local government allocations following a federal high court order, Rt. Hon. Victor Oko-Jumbo, Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct bye-elections to fill 27 vacant seats left by defected members of the Assembly.
The Speaker emphasized the urgency of the bye-elections now that the legal barrier previously preventing INEC from proceeding has been resolved. Oko-Jumbo made the appeal during a press conference in Port Harcourt on Friday.
Oko-Jumbo noted that Martin Chike Amaewhule and 26 other Assembly members voluntarily defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) on December 11, 2023, without any legitimate cause. This defection, he added, followed the members’ failed attempt to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara on October 30, 2023.
“To prevent INEC from conducting bye-elections, Amaewhule and 26 others filed Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/1681/2023 against INEC and others on December 13, 2023, and secured an Interlocutory Injunction restraining INEC from filling the Assembly’s 27 vacant seats,” Oko-Jumbo said.
However, Oko-Jumbo highlighted that the plaintiffs had since delayed pursuing their case, effectively stalling the electoral process. On October 30, 2024, Amaewhule and the other lawmakers withdrew the suit, which the court subsequently struck out.
“With the case now struck out, the injunction against INEC conducting a bye-election has been lifted,” the Speaker clarified. “As the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, I formally urge INEC to proceed with the bye-elections to fill the 27 vacant seats without further delay.”
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