INEC gets 7 days ultimatum to conduct Bauchi south senatorial bye-election

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has been given a 7-day ultimatum to declare the seat of Bauchi South Senatorial seat vacant and announce procedure for the conduct of a bye-election forthwith.

A Bauchi based legal practitioner who is an indigene of Bauchi local government area in the Bauchi South Senatorial District, Barrister Mukhtar Abubakar Usman gave the ultimatum in a letter he wrote to the Commission.

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.

He stated that as a result of the vacancy in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, it became imperative for the conduct of a Bye-Election by the Commission as stated in section 76 subsection 2 of the 1999 Federal Constitution.

The legal practitioner faulted INEC over its failure to discharge its constitutional responsibility within the prescribed time frame having elapsed on the 16th April 2018.

He wrote: “We have the instruction of our client to hereby formally demand from your Commission, a conduct of a Bye-Election into the vacant seat of the Senator representing Bauchi South Senatorial District within 7 days from the date of receipt of this letter.”

“In the event your Commission fails to conduct the election, our client, Barrister Mukhtar Abubakar Usman would not hesitate in instituting a legal action to seek for the intervention of court of justice by obtaining a prerogative writ of mandamus compelling your Commission to conduct the Bye-Election into the seat of senator representing Bauchi South senatorial district forthwith.”