From Joseph Amedu, Lokoja
A legal practitioner, Barrister Ayo Kunle Jonathan, has raised petition to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), over 12 Suppressed Constituencies in Kogi state.
The lawyer in his protest has urged INEC as a matter of necessity to address the issue without further delay.
Barrister Ayo Kunle Jonathan presented the protest letter through the Resident Electoral Commissioner in-charge of INEC in Kogi, Dr. Tersoo Aguldu in Lokoja on Thursday
He said; “the constitution mandates the INEC to create some constituencies, particularly as it relates to section 91 of the constitution, which mandates that the House of Assembly of a state should have three or four constituents as the number of the federal constituencies in the state.
“Now, we observed that after the state’s creation in Kogi State, some particular constituencies were suppressed, and by this there is no equal representation at the Kogi State House of Assembly.
“So, we have written to the INEC, the national office of the INEC, through the Kogi State office, mandating INEC to comply with these constitutional provisions before the next election to enable equal representation.
” Question, So, Kogi State was created about 34 years ago, and the same constitution has been regulating electoral process in the state. In what way, or why now that you just discovered this, and in what way has one section been affecting the other?
“Ans: If you look at the policy today, particularly as it relates to the Kogi State House of Assembly, we have just 25 members of the House of Assembly presently as against the required members stipulated under section 91 and section 114 of the constitution.
“Question:
What is the required number?
“Ans: I would not want to give you a particular number. We would allow INEC to do their job, do their investigation, and give us feedback.
“Question:
So, what do you think is the reason for all this, for the suppressed constituencies?
“Ans: We have no idea, and that is why we have written to INEC that this suppression should not continue. There must be equality amongst the constituencies in Kogi State. Now, in Ajaokuta Federal Constituency, we have just one House of Assembly member.
“Before now, we used to have Kabba-Bunu 1 and 2, Ijumu 1 and 2. In the Yagba Federal Constituency, we had Yagba East, Yagba West, Yagba North East.
“We also have in the East, that is the Kogi Eastern Senatorial District, the Bassa-komu was also suppressed. Then we have the Lokoja Koto axis under the Western Senatorial District.
“So, going by this protest, we want all this to be restored back as it is supposed to be in accordance with the law”
Adding his voice to the petition submitted, the Executive Chairman of Kabba/Bunu Local Government, Zacchaeus Dare Michael said that his local government is one of the suppressed constituencies in Kogi
In his words; I’m here today as an interested party in this protest letter submitted to INEC National through the State Office as one of those local governments whose constituencies were suppressed.
“laws are drafted in the spirit of fairness, justice, and equity. And this fairness, equity, and justice has been murdered over time in memory of Kogi State.
“Section 91 of 1999 Constitution has stipulated that a Federal House of Representatives will have three or four House of Assembly members in the State Assembly.
“And I’ll break it down. I will start with that Federal constituency, for example. They have four local governments. They have Igalamela-Odolu, Ibaji, Ofu and Idah.
“The four local governments are represented in the State Assembly. That makes it the maximum provision of the Constitution for one Federal Constituencies. In Ankpa, they have three local government.
“Ankpa, Omala, and Olamaboro. They have Ankpa 1, Ankpa 2. Olamaboro has assembly, Omala has one assembly. Either two colleagues achieve their maximum constitutional provision.
“In Dekina, for example, they have Dekina 1, Dekina 2. Dekina federal constancy is Dekina Basa. They have Dekina 1, Dekina 2, and they have Basa.
“That mean Kogi East have only one more member to meet the maximum requirement of the constitution. Come to Kogi Central, for example. Kogi Central has five local governments.
“They have six House of Assembly, and they have three Federal Constituencies. And these three Federal Constituencies in line with the spirit of section 91 of the constitution of 1999 as amended, which we didn’t draft, and it was drafted for this, I mean, to secure egalitarian state assembly.
“They have only six House of Assembly member. Six were suppressed in Kogi Central. In Kogi West, we have seven local government, and we have eight members. Only Lokoja has one and two. And four were suppressed in Kogi West.
“And in 1991, 1992 assembly, we have this suppressed constancy, having that member. The records are there. As a journalist, you can go there and take your record.
“Kabba has one and two, Ijumu has one and two, Yagba has one and two, Koto has one and two.
“So we are here now, in solidarity with our people, that in the spirit of the constitution, the INEG, we are not asking for creation, because creation will involve amending the 1999 constitution to create more constituencies.
“We are asking for restoration of what has been before, that is not on ground anymore.
“And we are urging INEG, as a matter of urgency for the next election, to revert to that old 1991, 1992 structure of the state assembly.
“The danger of this, I will emphasize it, it means that Kogi Central Assembly, from time immemorial, has been incompetently, I mean, constituted. It’s improperly constituted. If the law is saying, three, the three will give us 27.
“The four, four will give us 36. And the Assembly is 25. It doesn’t mean that, from time immemorial, the resolution passed in the House of Assembly, if it’s challenged in court, it will be declared null and avoid.
“Quorum in the face of law is fundamental. So we are urging the INEC to restore all the suppressed constancy.
“/We are urging His Excellency, Ahmed Usman Ododo, to please listen to the cry of those suppressed individual, so that we can have our representatives”
