The Senate has mandated the Independent National Electoral commission, INEC, to hold the Rivers State National Assembly re-run elections on or before December 10.

The lawmakers threatened to suspend sitting if INEC fails to conduct the polls.

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, moved the motion during plenary on Wednesday.

“This motion is out of a need for every state to be part of the government,” he said.

“INEC has failed and refused to conduct rerun elections into the senate and House of Representatives in the Rivers state.

“I, therefore, urge the senate to ask INEC to conduct the elections by December 10, failure of which the senate will suspend plenary pending the time the elections are conducted.‎”

Contributing to the motion, the Senate leader, Ali‎ Ndume, criticised INEC for the many inconclusive elections that have been witnessed in the country lately.

He supported the call for the Rivers re-run election to be conducted as soon as possible especially given the importance of the state in the economy of Nigeria.

He said: “You can imagine we are about to discuss PIB (Petroleum Industry Bill), and there are no members from Rivers state.

“We have a new leadership at INEC now‎, but we know the history; Inconclusive elections after inconclusive elections and suspension.

“So we ask that elections should take place in Rivers state.”

The senate, thereafter, resolved to suspend its sittings if the election was not held by December 10 as stated by INEC.

INEC had always cited insecurity as the reason for not holding the re-run elections in Rivers State.