Tension flared in Parliament as Minority lawmakers, dressed in black, openly rejected a move by the Clerk to Parliament that described the Kpandai parliamentary seat as vacant and formally notified the Electoral Commission (EC) to act on it.
The dispute traces back to a High Court decision that nullified the 2024 parliamentary election in Kpandai and directed the EC to organise a fresh poll within 30 days.
After the mandatory seven-day stay on the ruling expired without any appeal being filed, the Clerk wrote to the EC, indicating that the court’s orders had taken effect and that the seat was no longer occupied.
Minority MPs, however, argue that the expiry of the stay does not automatically translate into a parliamentary vacancy. They insist that the Constitution vests that responsibility solely in Parliament, acting through the Speaker, and not through administrative correspondence.
Clad in black to signal what they described as a serious threat to parliamentary authority, the Minority staged a protest in the chamber, chanting and briefly disrupting proceedings to underscore their objections.
The Minority is pressing for the immediate retraction of the letter, cautioning that any further steps by the EC based on the contested communication could trigger fresh legal and constitutional challenges.
