By Titilope Adako
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected a petition seeking the recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central Senatorial District, due to failure to meet submission guidelines.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, INEC confirmed receiving the petition, which was signed by over 250,000 constituents from Kogi Central, calling for the senator’s removal.
However, the electoral body emphasized that the petition did not comply with the procedural requirements outlined in its 2024 Regulations and Guidelines for Recall.
Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, stated that the petition lacked crucial information, including the complete contact details of the petitioners’ representatives, as required by Clause 1(f) of the regulations.
The petition was submitted with six bags of documents containing signatures from over half of the 474,554 registered voters across 902 polling units in five local government areas.
However, the petitioners failed to provide their full contact details, listing only a vague address, “Okene, Kogi State,” and only the lead petitioner’s phone number.
“The petition from Kogi Central Senatorial District was accompanied by six bags of documents said to be signatures collected from over half of the 474,554 registered voters spread across 902 Polling Units in 57 Registration Areas (Wards) in the five Local Government Areas of Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ogori/Magongo, Okehi, and Okene,” the statement read.
“However, the Commission’s immediate observation is that the representatives of the petitioners did not provide their contact address, telephone number(s) and e-mail address(es) in the covering letter forwarding the petition, through which they can be contacted as provided in Clause 1(f) of our Regulations and Guidelines. The address given is ‘Okene, Kogi State’, which is not a definite location for contacting the petitioners. Only the telephone number of the lead petitioner was provided, as against the numbers of all other representatives.”
INEC reiterated that the recall process is a prerogative of registered voters within the constituency, and once the petition meets the necessary requirements, the Commission will proceed with verifying the signatures in a transparent manner.
INEC assured the public that, should the petitioners comply with the submission guidelines, the next steps will be announced according to the law.
“The Commission reassures the public that it will be guided by the legal framework for recall. The public should therefore discountenance any speculations and insinuations in the social media,” the statement added.
The petition followed Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension from the Senate on 6 March over allegations of “gross misconduct” related to a seating dispute.
The senator, elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), had previously accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexual harassment, an allegation he has denied.
“We have come to recall her so that we can have a representative in the Senate. We are here to tell INEC to please follow the constitutional process for a recall so that the recall process can begin,” said Charity Omole, a representative of the petitioners.
“We submitted the petition and it has been received. All other documents have been received.
“We are the ones that voted for her, and we don’t want her anymore because we cannot afford not to have a representative. Nobody is bankrolling us. Nobody is having any personal issue with her. It is just what it is. The game is the game,” she concluded.
KoikiMedi Bringing the World 🌍 Closer to Your Doorstep