•INEC to fill seven National Assembly seats, nine state constituency seats
•CRV resumes nationwide Aug 25
Elections into vacant seats in the Senate, House of Representatives and state Houses of Assembly in 12 states will hold on August 16.
Online pre-registration of new voters will also start on August 18, while physical registration will follow on August 25.
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Mahmood Yakubu announced the dates for the bye and rerun elections during a meeting with leaders of political parties in Abuja yesterday.
Yakubu said about 3,553,659 registered voters will elect the new lawmakers during the bye-elections that involve two senatorial seats, five federal and nine state constituencies.
He, however, said that no bye-elections will be held in Khana II state constituency in Rivers State because of emergency rule. There will also be no poll in Talata Mafara South state Constituency in Zamfara State due to a legal issue.
Yakubu said: “In the last two years since the inauguration of the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly in June 2023, vacancies requiring bye-elections have occurred nationwide.
“You may recall that in February last year, INEC conducted nine bye-elections to fill vacancies resulting from the death or resignation of members of the National Assembly and State Houses of Assembly.
“Since then, more vacancies have been declared across the country. The outstanding bye-elections involve two Senatorial Districts – Anambra South and Edo Central; five Federal Constituencies – Ovia South West/Ovia South East in Edo State, Babura/Garki in Jigawa State, Chikun/Kajuru in Kaduna State, Ikenne/Shagamu/Remo North in Ogun State and Ibadan North in Oyo State.
“Also, vacancies exist in nine state constituencies ̶ Ganye in Adamawa State, Onitsha North I in Anambra State, Dekina/Okura in Kogi State, Zaria Kewaye and Basawa in Kaduna State, Bagwai/Shanono in Kano State, Mariga in Niger State, Karim Lamido I in Taraba State and Kauran Namoda South in Zamfara State).
“Consequently, the commission has fixed Saturday, 16th August 202,5 for bye-elections in 16 constituencies across 12 states, involving a total of 3,553,659 registered voters spread across 32 Local Government Areas, 356 wards and 6,987 polling units.
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“The commission will deploy 30,451 officials. However, in spite of the declaration of vacancies, bye-elections will not be held in two state constituencies for the time being. These are the Khana II State constituency in Rivers State as a result of the current state of emergency and the Talata Mafara South State constituency in Zamfara State following a legal challenge to the declaration of the seat vacant by the state House of Assembly.
“Unlike the general election or off-cycle governorship elections, there is a tight timeframe for the conduct of bye-elections.
‘’Party primaries will be held between 17th and 21st July, 2025, while the online portal for submission of nomination forms will open at 9.00 am on 22nd July and end at 6.00 pm on 26th July, 2025.
“Campaign in public will commence on 2nd August 2025 and end at midnight on 14th August 2025, i.e. 24 hours before election day.
“In addition to the bye-elections, the commission will also conduct the two outstanding court-ordered re-run elections in Enugu South I State Constituency of Enugu State and the Ghari/Tsanyawa State constituency in Kano State.
“These elections were disrupted by thuggery and violence. They will now be combined with the bye-elections upon assurances from the security agencies to adequately secure the process. The two elections will be held along with the bye-elections on Saturday, 16th August 2025.”
On Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) the INEC boss said: “The commission has approved the resumption of the exercise, which will be held at two levels. Given the forthcoming governorship election, the CVR in Anambra State will commence in the 326 wards across the state on 8th July 2025 and end on 17th July 2025 from 9.00 am to 3.00 pm daily, including weekend.
“During the registration period, new voters as well as those who wish to transfer their registration to Anambra State from other states of the federation or one location to another within the state will have the opportunity to do so.
“Similarly, registered voters whose Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are lost or damaged will have the opportunity to apply for a replacement.
“Uncollected PVCs from previous registrations will also be available for collection at the registration centres.
“The online pre-registration option is not available for the time being. Voter registration and the compilation of the voter register must be completed not later than 90 days before the date fixed for the election as provided by law.
“For the nationwide CVR, the commission has approved the resumption of the online and in-person registration of voters in all the states of the federation. The online pre-registration will start on 18th August 2025, while the in-person registration will follow on 25th August 2025.
“The exercise will be held simultaneously in all our 36 states and FCT offices as well as our 774 Local Government offices nationwide. ‘’