As the debate continues over the creation of additional seats in the House of Representatives, Montserrado County Senator Abraham Darius Dillon has questioned the motive behind the creation of additional 16 seats in the House by members of that august body.
Senator Dillon, in a social media post on Wednesday, April 22, 2026, wondered why the House is pushing for the creation of additional seats. “It is very important to note that it is not within the authority of the House (Legislature) to declare and assign legislative seats per constituency (Article 80d); it is the functional authority of the National Elections Commission (Article 80e),” he said.
The Montserrado County lawmaker noted, “In short, the Legislature determines the threshold (number of persons within a constituency), and the National Elections Commission (NEC) uses the threshold to ‘apportion’ the seats where applicable.
“Let me ask, will we be ready to reduce our monthly income to US$5,000.00 or even below to accommodate the additional seats? In fact, why do we even need additional seats?” He wondered. The House of Representatives is pushing to undergo a significant expansion following a recommendation from a special legislative committee.
The proposal, driven by updated population benchmarks, calls for adding 16 new elected seats. If approved, the total number of Representatives will rise from 73 to 89, reshaping the country’s legislative landscape and redistributing representation across several counties.
Under the proposed reallocation, some counties stand to gain additional seats, while others will see no adjustment. The breakdown includes counties with no change in representation, including River Gee (3 seats), Gbarpolu (3 seats), Grand Kru (2 seats), and River Cess (2 seats).
Several counties are projected to gain one additional seat: Margibi and Grand Bassa would each move from 5 to 6 seats, while Grand Gedeh, Grand Cape Mount, Maryland, Sinoe, and Bomi would increase from 3 to 4 seats, respectively.
