Pro-Fubara Assembly urges INEC to conduct bye-elections for vacant seats

The factional Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Victor Oko-Jumbo, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct bye-elections to fill the 27 vacant seats in the assembly. 

The call, according to Oko-Jumbo, is predicated on the acclaimed removal of the legal impediment that previously prevented INEC from conducting the bye-election.

Oko-Jumbo made this call during a press conference in Port Harcourt on Friday, November 1, 2024. 

He highlighted that Martin Chike Amaewhule and 26 other lawmakers defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in December 2023 without any justifiable cause, stressing that their defection followed their failed attempt to impeach Governor Siminalayi Fubara on October 30, 2023.

The Speaker emphasized that Amaewhule and others filed a suit (FHC/ABJ/CS/1681/2023) against INEC and four others on December 13, 2023, securing an interlocutory injunction that restrained INEC from conducting bye-elections.

However, he claimed that they failed to prosecute the suit, which was eventually struck out on October 30, 2024.

Oko-Jumbo urged INEC to conduct the bye-elections without delay, citing the need to restore stability and prevent distractions caused by the vacant seats. 

He stressed that since the order of interlocutory injunction has been spent, INEC should proceed with the bye-elections.