Outcry over vacant seats of late National Assembly members

- There has been outcry from constituents for the Senate to fill the empty seats of dead lawmakers

- The communities involved said it was against the Nigerian Constitution to be denied representation in national discuss

Members of Bauchi South, Daura zone and Lokoja federal constituencies have once again cried out over the National Assembly refusal to conduct a bye-election to fill the vacant seats of lawmakers who died in office.

The affected constituents described the absence of their reprsentatives in national discuss as a grave disadvantage.

The vacant seats were once filed by Ali Wakili (APC, Bauchi South), Mustapha Bukar (APC, Daura zone) and a member of the House of Representatives, Buba Jibrin (APC, Lokoja Federal Constituency).

Daily Trust reports that the chairman of Daura Emirate Development Association (DEDA), Aliyu Bala Daura, appealed to the Senate to communicate to INEC so that the processes for replacement of Senator Bukar could start.

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He said: “We are concerned and keenly watching the development and will take a look at what the law says should the period expire and no action is taken."

A constituent from Bauchi ‎local government, Danlami Inuwa said: “The Nigerian Senate has not been fair to us. Many people are now interested to fill the seat but they have refused to even declare the seat vacant so that INEC can prepare for the by-election.

“I wonder what is keeping the Senate from declaring the seat vacant and giving us the chance to elect another person to represent us. The politicians in the state are also not showing seriousness. The APC and opposition political parties are also not putting enough pressure on the issue."

A former commissioner from Bogoro local government, Audu Gani Bogoro, said some vested interests had deprived the people of Bauchi South the chance to be represented at the Senate.

“If I have the means, I would have taken the National Assembly to court for not declaring the seat vacant because they are denying us access to representation at the national level. We don’t have anybody to talk on our behalf at the Senate; so, for us, it is a great injustice," he said.

A constituent from Lokoja, Umar Ali, expressed sadness that no step had been taken to replace Rep Jibril who passed away 56 days ago.

Ali said: “Honestly it is a very sad development; we have been discussing this issue for some time now because, if the law says there should be a by-election after 90 days and after about 56 days of the death of our representative, nothing has been heard, then it is quite unfortunate."

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Recall that Legit.ng had earlier reported that a Bauchi based legal practitioner, Barrister Mukhtar Abubakar Usman, gave the Independent National Electoral Commission an ultimatum to declare the Bauchi South senatorial seat opened and conduct a bye-election. Usman, in a letter sent to INEC, said the seat has been vacant since Senator Ali Wakili previously occupying it died.

In the letter which was received by the Commission on the 20th April 2018, Mukhtar Abubakar stated that on the 17th March 2018, the senator representing Bauchi South senatorial district, Ali Wakili died and consequently the seat he occupied became vacant.

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Source: Legit.ng