The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed the locations where it plans to hold rerun and bye-elections, aiming for the first week of February 2024. Mahmood Yakubu, the Chairman of INEC, made this announcement during an extraordinary consultative meeting with political parties at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday.
The purpose of the meeting was to update party leaders on the Commission’s preparations for the upcoming elections early in the new year. Chairman Yakubu clarified that the elections fall into two categories: first, in constituencies where rerun elections are mandated by court orders, and second, in bye-elections to fill vacancies resulting from the death or resignation of members of the National and State Houses of Assembly.
The Commission plans to consolidate and conduct both types of elections on the same day. Chairman Yakubu reminded political parties that rerun elections involve only the parties and candidates that participated in the general election, unless a party desires to replace a deceased candidate.
He stated, “So far, the Election Petition Appeal Tribunals have ordered the Commission to conduct rerun elections in 34 constituencies, comprising one Senatorial District, 11 Federal Constituencies, and 22 State Assembly constituencies.” However, he highlighted that out of these 34 constituencies, only in three cases did the Commission receive orders to conduct elections throughout the entire constituencies; in the other 31 constituencies, elections are to be held in a few polling units.
Chairman Yakubu emphasized the Commission’s commitment to filling vacancies in the National and State Assembly constituencies. The proposed timeline is the first week of February 2024, just a little over one month away, for both the rerun and bye-elections. A detailed timetable and schedule of activities, including delimitation details such as locations, the number of polling units, registered voters, and collected Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) in each constituency, will be made available on the INEC website for public information.