ABUJA, Nigeria — Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has scheduled Saturday, September 19, 2026, for by-elections to fill five vacant legislative seats across four states.
INEC disclosed the election date in a statement published on its official X platform on Friday, September 11, 2026. Okay News reports thatINEC designated the affected areas as Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency in Gombe State, Dawakin Kudu State Constituency in Kano State, Sakwa and Disina State Constituencies in Bauchi State, and Udu State Constituency in Delta State.
Voting across the affected polling units inside the constituencies will start at 8:30am WAT and end at 2:30pm WAT.
The five seats became vacant following deaths, resignations, and political defections. In Gombe State, the seat for Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency became open after lawmaker Yaya Bauchi Tongo died in June 2026. In Bauchi State, the Sakwa State Constituency seat became vacant after its representative died, while the Disina State Constituency seat opened when its representative resigned to run for a local government chairmanship position.
In Delta State, the Delta State House of Assembly declared the Udu State Constituency seat vacant after lawmaker Collins Egbetamah defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC). In Kano State, former lawmaker Rabiu Shuaibu left the Dawakin Kudu State Constituency seat to contest the Dawakin Kudu/Warawa Federal Constituency seat, which he won in a June 2026 by-election against candidates from the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) and Labour Party (LP).
