The Kogi State House of Assembly has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to reinstate the 12 state constituencies that were scrapped over twenty years ago, stressing that their restoration is necessary to guarantee equitable representation for residents.
The appeal came after a motion presented by Hon. Seyi Bello, who represents the Kabba/Bunu Constituency. He noted that the 1999 Constitution empowers INEC to conduct constituency delineation to ensure a fair balance in population distribution across constituencies.
Bello pointed out that Section 91 of the constitution mandates that each state should have three to four times the number of its federal constituencies represented in the state assembly. Since Kogi has nine federal constituencies, he argued the state ought to have between 27 and 36 seats in the House of Assembly.
“Kogi State currently has only 25 constituencies, which falls below the constitutional minimum,” he said.
Hon. Bello recalled that when Kogi State was created in 1991, the First Assembly operated with 32 constituencies. But following a 1998 delimitation exercise by INEC, 12 constituencies were suppressed. These include Kabba-Bunu II, Ijumu II, Koton Karfe I, Yagba West II, Adavi II, Ife/Ogodu, Igala Ogba, Okura, Enjema, Dekina Town, Olamaboro II and Bassa-Nge/Gbirra.
He described their removal as a serious violation of the rights of the affected communities and pointed to two court cases supporting their restoration. One was filed by the Kogi State Government in 2014, which led to a 2015 Federal High Court ruling ordering INEC to restore six constituencies in Kogi East. Another was instituted by Omoluabi Olabode Adeyemi seeking the reinstatement of Kabba-Bunu II.
The lawmaker also reminded the House that on March 19, 2025, the House of Representatives passed a resolution directing INEC to restore all suppressed constituencies in Kogi and Delta States.
Hon. Bello said the delay in implementing these judgments and resolutions has denied thousands of citizens their right to full and fair representation. He added that the failure to conduct the required delimitation exercise has slowed development and weakened democracy in the affected areas for more than 20 years.
The House called on INEC to urgently comply with the constitution and restore the suppressed constituencies without further delay.