The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has faulted the petition submitted for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Senate by some members of her constituents.
Sam Olumekun, INEC National Commissioner & Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee in a statement on Tuesday said the petition did not comply with the process of recall as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022 as well as the Commission’s detailed Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024..
Olumekun said this decision was reached after the consideration of the petition submitted yesterday at the Tuesday’s regular weekly meeting of the commission.
According to him, the Commission observed that the signatures were not accompanied by the addresses of the registered voters.
“The process of recall is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022 as well as the Commission’s detailed Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, available on our website. All petitions will be treated in strict compliance with the legal framework.
“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 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” is provided as against the numbers of all the other representatives of the petitioners.”
However, INEC affirmed that the recall of a legislator is the prerogative of registered voters in a constituency who sign a petition indicating loss of confidence in the legislator representing them.
The Commission added that once the petition meets the requirements of submission, as contained in its regulations, it shall commence the verification of the signatures in each Polling Unit in an open process restricted to registered voters that signed the petition only.
“The petitioners and the member whose recall is sought shall be at liberty to nominate agents to observe the verification, while interested observers and the media will also be accredited. At each Polling Unit, signatories to the petition shall be verified using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
“Consequently, if the petitioners fully comply with the requirements of Clause 1(f) of the Regulations and Guidelines regarding the submission of their petition, the Commission will announce the next steps in line with the extant laws, regulations and guidelines. In the absence of a definite contact address, the Commission is making efforts to use other means to notify the representatives of the petitioners of the situation.
“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,” INEC concluded in the statement.
A group of registered voters from Kogi Central Senatorial District had on Monday submitted a petition to INEC for the recall of suspended Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Senate.
The constituents, in a letter signed by the Lead Petitioner, Salihu Habib, submitted at INEC headquarters, Abuja on Monday, declared that they no longer have confidence in Natasha as their senator and representative in the National Assembly.
The petitioners, under the aegis of Concerned Kogi Youth and Women, urged INEC to act with urgency and impartiality in processing the petition, in the interest of democratic accountability, governance integrity and the peace and progress of Kogi people and Nigeria.
“We, the undersigned, being duly registered voters of the Kogi Central Senatorial District, hereby invoke our rights under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to formally demand the recall of Sen. Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Nigerian senate.
“In particular, this petition for the recall of Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is brought pursuant to Section 69 of the 1999 Constitution of The Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) as well as INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall Petitions,’’ the petitioners stated.
They said that the petition arose from the constituents’ loss of confidence in the senator on grounds of gross misconduct in the senate, abuse of office, evasion of due process and lack of respect for the presiding officer.
According to them, the petition was signed by more than half of the registered voters in Kogi Central senatorial district.
“We hereby demand that INEC immediately commences the constitutional and procedural process of recall to remove Akpoti-Uduaghan from office and declare her seat vacant,’’ the petition stated.