A lawyer, Kenneth Okonkwo, made a post on his verified X handle @realkenokonkwo on October 15, 2025, claiming that Governor Diri Duoye of Bayelsa State already vacated his seat as governor when he announced his resignation from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The post gathered over 7k views on X within a short time.
Okonkwo called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to declare Diri’s seat vacant, citing constitutional provisions as the basis for his demand.
Verification:
The need to verify the veracity of this claim became necessary upon stumbling on the post. Why? You may ask.
We are aware that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) can conduct elections and declare winners, but we are not certain that INEC can declare a sitting governor’s seat vacant.
Upon investigation, we found that the Supreme Court already clarified this matter; that INEC does not have the power to declare a governor’s seat or a deputy governor’s seat vacant.
Furthermore, citing the case of Atiku vs the Attorney-General of the Federation, Afam Osigwe (SAN), a ‘Punch-publication, also echoed the stand of the Supreme Court on the matter.
There are no existing judicial precedents or constitutional provisions that grant INEC any power or authority to remove a member of the executive, be it president, vice president, governor or deputy governor, for defecting from one party to another.
The viral post also surfaced on PressExpress Nigeria’s Facebook page and Rivers Mirror Facebook page and on the pages of other major media houses in Nigeria.
Verdict:
No, it is not possible for INEC to remove any democratically elected governor from office or to declare his seat vacant upon defection to another party.
Therefore, Kenneth Okonkwo’s post or call on INEC to remove Gov Diri Duoye from office is misleading and incorrect.
