BY Dyepkazah Shibayan
Kennedy Ibeh, speaker of the Imo house of assembly, has declared vacant the seat of Tochi Okereke, lawmaker representing Ngor Okpala constituency.
Ibeh gave the ruling on Thursday following a motion sponsored by Johnson Duru, lawmaker representing Ideato south.
According to NAN, Duru said Okereke had been absent from the house proceedings for more than one-third of the total number of days the house had sat since its inauguration in 2019.
He was reportedly last seen at the house in December 2020.
A breakdown of Okereke’s attendance as provided by Chinelo Emeghara, clerk of the house, indicated that he attended proceedings 29 times in 2019; a total of 14 times in 2020, and zero attendance in 2021.
Thereafter, the speaker declared his seat vacant.
Ibeh said the lawmaker, who is a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), failed to meet the requirements of his office.
“[His absence] was without any just cause and should not be allowed to continue,” the speaker said.
He ordered that a bye-election be conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) within 90 days to elect a new representative for the constituency.
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