Edo State House of Assembly has on Wednesday, 5th December 2019 declared vacant the seats of 12 members-elect who were yet to be sworn in following the controversies trailing the inauguration of the parliament. The house also declared the seats of MrUyiEkhosuehi and Mr Henry Okaka, representing Oredo East and Owan East respectively, who didn’t meet the mandatory sitting requirement as vacant.
According to the Speaker, Francis Okiye, while declaring the seats of his colleagues vacant during plenary held on 5th December 2019 stated that the 12 members-elect defiantly refused to come and process the necessary documentation as part of the condition for their inauguration.
In his words, he Speaker said “12 out of the 24 members-elect who completed their screening and documentation process were inaugurated on June 17, 2019, but two of them have refused to discharge their legislative duties. They have refused to represent their constituents in the House, invariably denying their constituents effective representation.”
Okiyeadded that the House is declaring the seats of the 12 members-elect vacant in accordance with Section 109 Sub-section 1F of the constitution. The 12 members-elect are Vincent UwadiaeOviaNorth-East-2 constituency; Ugiagbe Dumez,Ovia North-East-1, Washington OsifoUhunmwode, Michael Ohio-Ezomo Owan West constituencies, Victor Edoror Esan Central, Kingsley Ugabi EtsakoEast. Others are Chris Okaeben Oredo West constituency; Sunday AghedoOvia South-West; Crosby Eribo Egor, Oshomah Ahmed Etsako Central, Ganiyu Audu Etsako West-1 and SeiduOshiomhole Etsako West-2. The speaker called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct by-election within 90 days in the affected constituencies.
