The names of 12 deceased members of the National Assembly are still on the website of the ninth Assembly as serving members in the upper and lower chambers, Sunday PUNCH reported.
Four out of the 12 were Senate members while eight were in the House of Representatives who have died since the inception of the ninth Assembly.
The most recent death in the red chamber was a former lawmaker representing the Lagos East Senatorial District, Bayo Osinowo, popularly known as Pepper.
Osinowo died of COVID-19 complications in June, 2020. In his stead, a former Commissioner for Finance in the state, Senator Tokunbo Abiru, was elected as a consensus candidate to the upper chamber.
Others who lost their lives were the lawmaker representing Imo North, Senator Benjamin Uwajumogu, who died on December 18, 2019; Senator Ignatius Longjan, who represented Plateau South and died on February 10, 2020; and Senator Rose Oko, who represented Cross River North but died on March 23, 2020.
However, findings showed that Osinowo’s name was on the National Assembly website as a serving lawmaker as of noon on Saturday. The website also showed that Lagos had four senators, since Osinowo was still listed as serving Senator. This is in contrast to the three constitutionally stipulated to represent each state of the federation.
On the website, members of the Senate from Lagos State, include Senator Bayo Osinowo (Lagos East), Senator Tokunbo Abiru (Lagos East), Senator Oluremi Tinubu (Lagos Central) and Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola (Lagos West).
Other members at the upper and lower chambers whose names were still on the website were mostly from the ruling All Progressive Congress, the report stated.
In the House of Representatives, the name of a former lawmaker, who represented Garki Bubara Constituency of Jigawa State, the late Muhammadu Fagen-Gawo, was on the website. Fagen-Gawo died in the United Arab Emirates, Dubai, while on a medical trip in December 2019.
Another lawmaker, Yuguda Hassan-Kila the Chairman of the House Committee on Customs and Excise, who died from an undisclosed illness in 2021 is also on the website.
Hassan-Kila, a former member of the House of Representatives, had his details on the website as the lawmaker representing Gwaram Constituency in the House.
Ekpenyong Bassey, who represented Oron Federal Constituency in Akwa Ibom before his death on April 24, 2022, was listed on the NASS website as a serving member.
Although his name was removed, it was observed that other details, including his email address and date of birth, were still conspicuously placed on the website.
Also on the website were the details of the late Jude Ise-Idehen, who represented Egor/Ikpoba Okha Federal Constituency who died on July 1, 2022.
The Special Adviser on Media and Labour to the Clerk to the National Assembly, Austen Adesoro, said “I will check and revert, please,” on why the names of dead members were still on the website, according to the report.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
