Finally the National Assembly has declared vacant the seats of Edo State Governor and his deputy.
NASS also invited the Independent National Electoral Commission (I’m sorry INEC) to conduct a bye-election to fill the vacancies.
Governor Monday Okpebholo and his deputy, Denis Idahosa, were both members of the National Assembly until their recent election into power.
Okpebholo represented Edo Central Senatorial District, while Idahosa represented Ovia North-East/Ovia South-West Federal Constituency before they contested the September 21 election and won.
Senate President Godswill Akpabio declared Okpebholo’s seat vacant after a valedictory session for the governor organised by the senate.
The Senate President announced the vacancy while reading a letter from Minority Leader Abba Moro, requesting that the seat be declared vacant, following the occupant’s inauguration as a governor.
In the letter, Moro said: “I write to bring to your attention Paragraph D of Section 68 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, that the seat of Senator Monday Okpebholo, representing Edo Central Senatorial District, has become vacant.
“This vacancy has become necessary following Senator Monday Okpebholo’s inauguration as governor of Edo State, and in accordance with the Constitution, his seat is now deemed vacant, and we invite you to so declare.”
Also, House Leader Julius Ihonvbere, in a letter read by Speaker Tajudeen Abbas on the floor of the House, asked the lower Chamber to declare Idahosa’s seat vacant.
