Vacant but Vital: Prince Adetayo Adekunle Urges Gov. Makinde to Address Ibadan North Federal Constituency Seat

HE Seyi Makinde, FNSE

Governor of Oyo State,

Governor's Office,

Ibadan,

Oyo State. 

19th May, 2025

Your Excellency Sir,

*URGENT NEED FOR THE STATE GOVERNMENT'S INTERVENTION IN THE FILLING OF THE VACANCY IN THE IBADAN NORTH FEDERAL CONSTITUENCY OF OYO STATE*

The above subject refers. 

I write, in my capacity as a resident of the above-named constituency, to draw  your attention to the plight of the people who have had no voice in the House of Representatives for almost a year now. As you may be aware, the said vacancy arose as a result of the demise of Hon Musiliu Olaide Akinremi on the 10th Day of July, 2024. 

Mr. Governor, it is an undebatable fact that it is the constitutional  responsibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), a federal executive body created under Section 153(1)f of the 1999 Constitution, to "organize, undertake and supervise" all elections to the offices of the President and Vice-President, the Governor and Deputy Governor of a State, and to the membership of the Senate, *the House of Representatives* and the House of Assembly of each State of the Federation. (See para 15 of the Third Schedule to the 1999 Constitution as amended). 

As a corollary to the above, it is pertinent to cite Section 76 of the Constitution which provides for the time of election to the National Assembly. It states as follows: 

(1) Elections to each House of the National Assembly shall be held on a date to be appointed by the Independent National Electoral Commission.

(2) The date mentioned in subsection (1) of this section shall not be earlier than sixty days before and not later than the date on which the House stands dissolved, *or where the election to fill a vacancy occurring more than three months before such date; not later than one month after the vacancy occurred.*

As may be gleaned from the highlighted portion of the constitutional provision above, INEC has had more than enough time to fill the vacancy in our constituency. The argument of the Commission that lack of funding has prevented it from performing *a mandatory constitutional duty* is untenable and indefensible.

As things stand, the good people of Ibadan North Federal Constituency run the risk of losing out of the projected one billion naira constituency project said to have been allocated to each constituency under the 2025 Appropriation Bill (budget). 

Consequent upon the foregoing, I wish to respectfully urge Your Excellency to do the following:

1. Direct the Attorney-General of Oyo State to approach the court for an order of mandamus compelling INEC to perform it's mandatory constitutional duty.

2. As Vice-Chair of the Nigerian Governors Forum, lobby your colleagues, who have similar vacancies in their states, to engage proactively with the Federal Government to expeditiously provide supplementary funding to INEC. 

While expecting your gracious consideration of the issues raised in this letter, kindly accept the sincere assurances of my utmost regards. 

E-Signed

Adetayo Adekunle 

Bodija

Ibadan North LGA of Oyo State.

adekunleadetayo@gmail.com