Oyo Assembly seat still vacant after 119 days

Despite extant provisions of the 1999 constitution, the Ibadan South East 2 constituency seat in the Oyo State House of Assembly remains vacant after 119 days.

The seat became vacant following the death of Honourable Olusegun Popoola who then represented the constituency on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on July 12.

The late Popoola had secured the PDP ticket to contest for a second term prior to his demise and subsequent burial on July 27.

To fill the vacant position, and in line with guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), some political parties had conducted processes to choose their candidates for the anticipated bye-election.

Among the candidates that the parties put forward to INEC for the bye-election were Omikunle Olayinka, PDP; Adegoke Wareed, All Progressives Congress; Folorunso Tolulope, Accord party.

When the Tribune Online spoke with some party representatives on Monday, they said they had submitted the names of their candidates for the bye-election and still waited on INEC for the date of the election.

Section 116 (1 and 2) of the 1999 constitution stipulates: “(1) Elections to a House of Assembly shall be held on a date to be appointed by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

“(2) The date mentioned in subsection (1) of this section shall not be earlier than sixty days before and not later than the date on which the House of Assembly stands dissolved, or where the election is to fill a vacancy occurring more than three months before such date, not later than one month after the vacancy occurred.”

Speaking with Tribune Online on the development, a top staff of the INEC said there was no definite statement from the commission yet regarding how to fill the vacant position.

The staff, however, said the options before the commission are to disclose a date for bye election solely for Ibadan South East 2 constituency, to have it done on the same day with other pending bye elections or to leave the position vacant till the next general election.

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