5 Reps’ Seats Still Vacant As INEC Yet To Conduct By-Elections

Five federal constituencies across the nation are currently not represented in the House of Representatives. New Telegraph reports that these five seats became vacant following the death of four members and election of one as deputy governor.

Although Speaker Tajudeen Abbas has since declared the seats vacant and the House directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct by-election to fill the vacancies, the agency has not been able to do so.

INEC is obligated under section 76(2) of the 2022 Electoral Act to conduct byelections to fill vacant positions and ensure proper representation of the affected constituencies. The House of Representatives is made up of 360 members representing 360 federal constituencies across the nation, but presently it is populated by 355 members only.

The vacant constituencies are: Babura/Garki federal constituency of Jigawa State, which was hitherto represented by Isa Dogonyaro until his death on 10 May 2024; Ibadan North federal constituency of Oyo State, which was represented by Olaide Akinremi until his death on July 10, 2024 and Chikun/Kajuru federal constituency of Kaduna State, which was represented by Ekene Adams until his death on 16 July 16, 2024.

The rest are the Ovia federal constituency of Edo State, which was occupied by Dennis Idahosa, who was elected as deputy governor of Edo State in September 2024; and the Ikenne/Sagamu/Remo North federal constituency of Ogun State, which was occupied by Oriyomi Onanuga, who died on January 15, 2025. Onanuga was the deputy chief whip of the House.