The Senate on Tuesday directed the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to conduct by-elections to fill the vacant seats in Anambra South and Edo Central Senatorial Districts.
The President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, issued the directive during plenary while officially declaring the seats vacant.
INEC had, in January 2025, stated that it was awaiting a formal request from the Senate before proceeding with by-elections, particularly for Anambra South, which has remained vacant since 2024.
The vacancy in Anambra South Senatorial District arose following the death of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah of the All Progressives Congress, APC, on 27 July 2024. Meanwhile, the election of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the Edo State governor in 2024 resulted in a vacancy in Edo Central senatorial district.
Ubah reportedly died of cardiac arrest in London at the age of 52, two days after departing Nigeria for the United Kingdom on 25 July.
Similarly, the election of Senator Monday Okpebholo, the APC candidate in the Edo State governorship election on 22 September 2024, led to a vacancy in the Edo Central seat in the Red Chamber.
According to INEC, Okpebholo secured a total of 291,667 votes to defeat his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, who garnered 247,655 votes.
The Senate had earlier declared the Edo Central seat vacant in 2024 after a valedictory session in honour of Senator Okpebholo, following his election in December last year.
INEC, through its Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra State, Elizabeth Agu, recently reaffirmed the commission’s commitment to conducting by-elections once directed by the Senate. She made this statement during a stakeholders’ dialogue organised by the International Press Centre in Awka, the state capital.
