INEC to hold Surulere bye-election after off-cycle elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it would conduct bye-elections into 11 federal seats at the end of off-cycle governorship polls holding in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states.

Surulere federal constituency bye-election is one of such bye-elections. Sam Olumekun, the INEC’s national commissioner and chairman of the information and voter education committee, in a report, confirmed it.

“We would be doing the bye-elections where vacancies have been declared after the forthcoming off-cycle governorship election,” he said.

The Surulere federal constituency seat became vacant following the appointment of its former occupier, Femi Gbajabiamila, as President Bola Tinubu’s chief of staff.

Based on the provision of Section 76 (2) of the 1999 constitution (as amended), INEC is required to conduct the bye-election not earlier than one hundred and fifty days and not later than thirty days before or where the election is to fill a vacancy occurring more than ninety days before such date and not later than thirty days after the vacancy occurred. It is however almost five months since the Surulere Federal Constituency seat became vacant.