The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will tomorrow conduct re-run and bye-elections into some national and state legislative seats across 26 states of the federation.
The elections, which will be held in 80 local government areas across Nigeria, are to fill vacancies created by the resignation, death and removal of lawmakers through post-election litigation.
INEC chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, said the bye-elections will be conducted in nine out of the 26 states to elect two senators, four members of the House of Representatives and three members of State Houses of Assembly.
“In other states, re-run elections will take place at designated constituencies or polling units as ordered by the election appeal tribunals.
“In all, the elections will fill vacancies in three senatorial districts, 17 Federal and 28 state constituencies spread across 80 local government areas, 575 registration areas/wards and 8,934 polling units involving 4,904,627 registered voters out of which 4,613,291 Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) have been collected,” he said.
Some notable vacant seats to be filled are those of Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, Sen. David Umahi, Sen. Ibrahim Geidam, Hon. Bumi Tunji-ojo, and Hon. Tanko Sununu who resigned to take up appointments as chief of staff to the president and ministers respectively. Then there is Hon. Isma’ila Maihanchi, a member-elect from Taraba who died before inauguration, and Hon. Abdulkadir Danbuga from Sokoto who died in October 2023.
INEC had indicated its readiness for the exercise with the chairman disclosing that the commission, in collaboration with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), had delivered materials to the affected locations.
Yakubu also enlisted the support of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to expeditiously deliver materials to three locations in the North East, South East and the South West geo-political zones of the country due to the size and distance of some constituencies.
The INEC chairman was at the office of the chief of the air staff, Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, at the Nigerian Air Force Headquarters in Abuja early in the week where he got assurance on logistics support.
Air Marshal Abubakar assured INEC that the Nigerian Air Force remains willing, able and ready to continue to support the commission as it had always done in the past.
Apart from logistics arrangement, the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) comprising INEC, Office National Security Adviser (ONSA) and all security agencies met earlier to put in place strategies to ensure the security of lives and property and orderliness during elections.
The inspector-general of police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered the restriction of all forms of vehicular movement on roads, waterways, and other forms of transportation from 12am to 6pm. during the upcoming 2024 run-off and bye-elections in all states where elections will be conducted.
The IGP, however, exempted those on essential services such as INEC officials, electoral observers, accredited media and observers, both foreign and domestic, ambulances responding to medical emergencies and firefighters during the upcoming 2024 run-off and bye-elections scheduled to take place across 26 states of Nigeria tomorrow.
The affected states include Ebonyi, Yobe, Kebbi, Lagos, Ondo, Taraba, Benue, Borno, Kaduna, Plateau, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Cross River, Delta, Enugu, Jigawa, Katsina, Adamawa, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Kano, Nasarawa, Niger, Oyo, Sokoto, and Zamfara.
The IGP has also ordered a ban on all security aides to VIPs and escorts from accompanying their principals and politicians to polling booths and collation centres during the election.
Force PRO, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi also said the state-owned security outfits and organisations, quasi-security units, and privately owned security outfits are also barred from participating in election security management.
“The movement restrictions, including the ban on VIP aides, escorts, and state security outfits, are crucial measures aimed at preventing any undue interference or intimidation during the electoral process. The IGP emphasizes that these restrictions are implemented to safeguard the integrity of the elections and guarantee equal participation for all citizens of the affected states.”
The IGP urged political parties, candidates, and their supporters to conduct themselves responsibly and in accordance with the electoral laws, as any attempt to disrupt the electoral process or violate the established guidelines will be met with the full force of the law.