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Declare Odigbo Constituency II Seat Vacant, APC Tells Ondo Assembly

In the statement, signed by APC Publicity Secretary Abayomi Adesanya, and obtained by SaharaReporters in Akure, the party accused Akindele, who is a member of the Labour Party, of silencing the issue in the House despite members having raised it.

The All Progressive Congress (APC) in Ondo State has called on the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Hon. Jumoke Akindele, to respect the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and declare vacant the seat of her predecessor, Samuel Ajayi Adesina.

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APC

The party said in a press statement that such an action would bring sanity, good representative and development back to Odigbo Constituency II, where the late Adesina hailed from.

Adesina died of cancer of the bladder in February and was buried in April. 

In the statement, signed by APC Publicity Secretary Abayomi Adesanya, and obtained by SaharaReporters in Akure, the party accused Akindele, who is a member of the Labour Party, of silencing the issue in the House despite members having raised it.

APC also accused Governor Olusegun Mimiko of deciding what matters in the Assembly, and of having used his position to enthrone the first female speaker.

It argued that failing to declare the seat of the Speaker vacant when Adesina died was tantamount to playing pranks with the development and destiny of people of his local government.

"We have complained and written series of petitions and protest letters [concerning] why the State House of Assembly under Madam Jumoke Akindele and her cohort had refused to notify the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on the vacant seat in Odigbo Constituency II, for a bye-election to fill the gap," the party said.

It further stated that the LP government in the state is afraid of an election in the area because it will lose, in view of the fact that the constituency is part of the stronghold of the opposition party.

A source in the Labour Party in the state who spoke to SaharaReporters under condition of anonymity revealed that the ruling party decided to keep silent over an election in the area, and chose to employ delay tactics as the 2015 general election is nearer.

"The truth of the matter is that we might not have an election in Odigbo Constituency II, because the area is filled with APC members and they might use all means of winning and hijacking the election if conducted,” the source said.

"I also don't want you to forget that the area shares a boundary with OSun state where the APC recently won back election. Even reports reaching us have it that a quarter of inhabitants of the area are dwellers from Osun State.

"Already, 2015 general election is here, so why wasting fund to conduct an election that would last for five months or thereabouts?"

The chairman of the Assembly Committee on Information, Kunle Olujuyigbe, told SaharaReporters on the phone that lawmakers in the House have looked into the matter in one of their parliamentary sittings and notified INEC, adding that the electoral body would get back to them at the appropriate time.

But at a stakeholder meeting in the state organized by INEC to shed light on the distribution of the newly introduced Permanent Voters' Cards (PVC), the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Akin Orebiyi, stated that the commission was yet to be notified.

Also, a source at the office of the Commission hinted that the Labour Party is putting pressure on INEC to jettison the idea of conducting a bye-election in the area for now, citing the 2015 general election.