The Senate, yesterday, directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to conduct by-elections to fill the vacant seats in Anambra South and Edo Central Senatorial Districts, respectively.

The order was given by the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio, during the day’s plenary session, when he officially declared the seats vacant.

INEC had in January 2025 said that it was awaiting a formal request from the Senate before proceeding with a byelections, especially the Anambra South, which has remained vacant since 2024.

While the death of Senator Ifeanyi Ubah of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on July 27, 2024 created vacuum in the Anambra South Senatorial District, the election of Senator Monday Okpebholo as the Edo State governor also last year made Edo Central Senatorial District to be vacant.

Ubah reportedly died of a cardiac arrest in London, at the age of 52, two days after he departed Nigeria for the United Kingdom on July 25.

The Senate had earlier declared the Edo Central seat vacant in 2024, after a valedictory session held in honour of Senator Okpebholo in December last year after his election.

The INEC, through its Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Anambra State, Elizabeth Agu, reiterated the commitment of the Commission to fill the vacant seats through by-elections once directed by the Senate during a stakeholders’ dialogue organised by the Internationals Press Centre (IPC) in Awka, the state capital, recently