By Yusufu Aminu Idegu, Lokoja
A group of protesters on Thursday stormed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Lokoja protesting alleged suppression of some state constituencies by INEC.
Spokesman of the protesters Barr Ayokunle Jonathan said, “We are here this morning to present a protest letter to INEC on the suppressed constituencies in Kogi State.
He said, “The constitution mandates the INEC to create some constituencies, particularly as it relates to section 91 of the constitution, which mandated that there should be three or four state constituencies in every Federal constituency in any state.
“But 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 national headquarters through the Kogi State office, mandating INEC to comply with these constitutional provisions before the next election to enable equal representation.
Also speaking, the Chairman of Kaba Bunu local government of Kogi state Hon Dare Zacharia said, “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.
“As a lawyer, laws are drafted in the spirit of fairness, justice, and equity. And this fairness, equity, and justice has been murdered over time in Kogi State.
“I said so because, 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. That means there are supposed to be 36 state constituencies in Kogi, but we currently have 25, where are the remaining 11 state constituencies?. INEC has continued to supresse the remaining 11 state constituencies
“So we are not asking for creation new state constituencies, because that will involve amending the 1999 constitution to create more constituencies. But we are asking for restoration of what has been before.
“And we are urging INEC to restore those missing 11 constituencies for Kogi people before the 2027 election. INEC should revert to that old 1991, 1992 structure of the state assembly.
“From our records in Kogi state, state constituencies were not properly constituted on the justice, equity and fairness, especially in Kogi Central and Kogi West. So we are urging the INEC to restore all the suppressed constancies”
These are the reasons for this protest and we have presented our protest letter to the resident INEC chairman in Lokoja Dr Tersoo Agundu.
