Nigeria Content Online

Members
of the Ekiti State House of Assembly at the weekend rejected the
reduction of the constituencies in the state from 26 to 24 by the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The lawmakers also
resolved to send a delegation to the National Assembly to protest what
they described as a slap on the people of the state.

A unilateral reduction?

The chairman of the
House Committee on Information, Adebayo Morakinyo, said it is wrong by
any standard for any commission or government agency to unilaterally
reduce the number of constituencies in Ekiti State without consulting
the people of the state.

The two constituencies removed from the present 26 are Ekiti East and Oye constituencies.

“The assembly
received a letter from the Independent National Electoral Commission
over the matter, stating that the result of the 2006 National
Population and Housing Census was used to arrive at the decision to
increase the number of constituencies in some other states,” Mr.
Morakinyo, a Peoples Democratic Party legislator, said. “The action is
not only an injustice of the highest order, but also a slap on the
entire people of Ekiti State. I don’t know the business of INEC in
reducing the constituencies of Ekiti State. This matter does not
concern local governments; constituencies don’t receive allocations
from the Federal Government allocations are given to states and local
governments.”

He said the state
assembly would not accept the reduction carried out by INEC, and urged
the National Assembly to throw INEC’s recommendations into the dustbin.

‘Battle ready’

Mr. Morakinyo added
that the electoral body has nothing to gain by promoting a reduction
when the people of the state are clamouring for an increase from 26 to
32 constituencies.

The deputy speaker,
Saliu Adeoti, criticised the merging of Ekiti East and Oye
Constituencies, saying Ekiti people would not accept the reduction.

“We have 26
constituencies and we were expecting six more to be created; but they
are saying that they have reduced by two. We say no to constituency
reduction in Ekiti State, we will not accept anything less than 26. We
want six more to be created and that is our position,” Mr. Adeoti, who
is an Action Congress member, said.

Mr. Adeoti said the
lawmakers will summon a meeting with traditional rulers, leaders of
various political parties and the National Assembly’s leadership to
find a lasting solution to the INEC decision.

“It (is) sad that the constituencies which were overpopulated were
not split; rather INEC decided to reduce the number of constituencies
in the state from 26 to 24.The whole of Ekiti Stat is battle ready to
correct the injustice meted on the people of the state by INEC,” he
said.