Bruce Alerts On Pending Senatorial Elections

Senator Ben Murray
Bruce (Bayelsa East) has asked the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) to explain why it has not conducted pending senatorial rerun elections.
Bruce noted that the non-representation of some states in the Senate was a violation of the constitution.
Bruce, who asked the Senate to take up the issue with the INEC Chairman, said the people of the affected areas have a right to be represented in the Senate.
The senator, said: “We have not had representation in this chamber from Rivers State, part of Anambra, Imo, Kogi and some other states. INEC concluded elections in one week in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) but in these states they had no representation here and it does not make any sense.
”It is a violation of the constitution; the people of these states have a right to have representation here. The INEC Chairman owes us an explanation to explain why these elections have not been concluded.
”It is a simple matter and it is the responsibility for INEC to conclude these elections so that the people of these beautiful states have representation here in the Senate.”
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary, explained that he was aware that INEC would meet today to fix dates for the election.
He said: “Let me just say that I am aware that INEC will be meeting tomorrow (today) to fix dates for this rerun or bye-elections, but it is important that you have raised it so that the nation will know that we are concerned about the non-representation of some of these states.
“It is clear in the constitution that INEC should quickly conduct within 30 days bye-elections where vacancies occur and so, it is far past 30 days when vacancies occurred in some places. It is important that we urge INEC to ensure that as soon as possible that these elections are conducted so that every part of the country, every state would have their full representation in the National Assembly.”
In a related development, people from Imo North Senatorial District, Imo State, last Tuesday, staged a protest at the National Assembly to call attention to the delay in conducting Senatorial District re-run election in the area.
The Imo North Senatorial protesters, who came under the aegis of Okigwe Zonal Development Association Abuja (OZDA), displayed placards to press home their demands.