PETITION FOR RECALL OF SENATOR NATASHA AKPOTI-UDUAGHAN OF KOGI CENTRAL FAILS LEGAL REQUIREMENT
Opponents of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central have failed to make an impression on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in their bid to recall her from the National Assembly.
This is because INEC has said that the petition did not meet the legal requirement, which includes the telephone numbers and contact addresses of the representatives of the over two hundred thousand petitioners.
The leadership of INEC made this known after its regular weekly meeting Tuesday, March 25, 2025, during which it considered the petition.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, acknowledged that the petition was accompanied with six bags of documents said to be signatures of over half of the 474,554 registered voters in Kogi Central.
The Senatorial District is made up of 902 Polling Units in 57 Registration Areas (Wards), across the five Local Government Areas of Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ogori/Magongo, Okehi and Okene.
Sam Olumekun referred the petitioners to the process of recall as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022 as well as the INEC Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, available on our website.
He said the Commission's immediate observation is that the representatives of the petitioners did not provide their contact address, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses in the covering letter, through which they can be contacted as provided in the Guidelines and Regulations.
He said that once the petition meets the requirements of submission, the Commission shall commence the verification of the signatures in each Polling Unit in an open process, which would be restricted to registered voters that signed the petition only.
The National Commissioner further said that the petitioners and the legislator whose recall is being sought, shall be at liberty to nominate agents to observe the verification, while interested observers and the media will also be accredited.
He said the leadership of INEC reassures the public that it would be guided by the legal framework for recall, urging them to discountenance speculations and insinuations in the social media.