Political activist, Usman Okai Austin, has rejected claims that a federal constituency cannot have more than four seats in a state House of Assembly, describing the position as misleading and detrimental to fair representation in Kogi State.

In a statement shared via his Facebook page on Tuesday, Okai urged the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Kogi State to correctly interpret the law guiding constituency delineation.

According to him, ongoing debates stem from efforts to restore state assembly seats allegedly suppressed in certain communities over time.

“They’re trying to shortchange us again,” he said, insisting that both population size and land mass must be considered in determining representation.

Okai argued that there is no constitutional provision limiting federal constituencies to four state assembly seats, noting that several states already exceed that figure based on demographic and geographic realities.

He cited examples in states such as Lagos State, Kano State, Kaduna State, Plateau State, Benue State, Oyo State, and Anambra State, where some federal constituencies have multiple state assembly seats.

He added that with nine federal constituencies, Kogi State should ordinarily have at least 27 state assembly seats based on representation principles, arguing that the current 36-seat structure should not be distributed equally without factoring in population and geographical differences.

Okai called on INEC to ensure equity and justice in the delineation process, urging the Kogi REC to “do the right thing” in the interest of affected communities.