The Independent National Electoral Commission has said the National Assembly has not notified it of the death of Senator Isiaka Adeleke, who represented Osun-West Senatorial District in the Senate until his death on April 23, 2017.

The Administrative Secretary of INEC in Osun State, Barr. Emmanuel Ademushure, said this in Osogbo, the Osun State capital on Thursday at the commencement of continuous voter registration exercise in the state.

“Even the deaf and blind heard that Osun State has lost a representative in the National Assembly who was representing the people of Osun-West Senatorial District, but the law stipulates that we must be officially informed before taking any step,” Ademushure told journalists.

“It is the party that will inform the National Assembly that they have lost a representative and once that has been done, the National Assembly will inform INEC about it, even though you heard it on network news and pages of newspapers.”

He said INEC could only declare the Osun-West senatorial district’s seat vacant when the National Assembly officially informs the electoral body of Adeleke’s death.

“We are waiting for correspondence from the National Assembly to inform us about his demise and as soon as it gets to Abuja, it will be communicated to us,” he said.

The INEC official, however, said those who will be registering to vote under the continuous voter registration exercise that started on Thursday would not be allowed to participate in an election to replace the late Senator.

He explained that the list of voters eligible to elect representatives into the eighth Assembly was on record and had been publicised.

“Therefore, those who are just registering will not be part of voting process in the election that would get the deceased replaced,” he said.