The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Thursday rejected the petition for the recall of the lawmaker representing Kogi Central senatorial district, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The Commission, in a statement, said the petition did not meet the requirements for recalling a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The Intercept reported that the Commission has formally received a petition from constituents of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, requesting for the initiation of her recall process.
The Secretary to the Commission, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, accepted the appeal, which was presented at INEC’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday.
Kogi Central’s senatorial representative, Natasha, is presently suspended for allegedly breaking Senate regulations.
According to the petitioners, over 250,000 constituents signed the petition, out of about 480,000 registered voters in the senatorial district.
“Constituents’ Petition for the Recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Grounds of Loss of Confidence” was the title of the petition.
INEC said that it has validated 208,132 signatures and thumbprints from the recall petition against Senator Natasha. However, the recall process will not continue since the amount of signatures is 29,146 less than the constitutional criteria.
The decision was made during the Commission’s normal weekly meeting on Thursday, according to a statement released by Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information & Voter Education Committee.
The Commission stated, among other things, that it had reviewed and accepted the report of its physical count of the signatures and fingerprints sent with the petition for Natasha’s recall.
INEC had assured that the matter would be handled with fairness to the parties involved and in line with the provisions of the law and our Regulations and Guidelines.
“First, we ensured that the petitioners complied with the requirements for the submission of the petition. Secondly, we notified the member sought to be recalled in writing, copied the presiding officer of the Senate and simultaneously published the notice on our website,” the statement said.
It continued, “Thirdly, we informed Nigerians that the next step would be to carefully ascertain the number of signatures/thumbprints to ensure that the petition complies with the requirement of the law. This exercise has now been completed.
“For emphasis, a petition for the recall of a Senator must comply with the provision of Section 69(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) which requires the signatures of more than one-half of the registered voters in the constituency.
“The total number of registered voters in the Kogi Central Senatorial District is 474,554. More than one-half of this figure (i.e. 50%+1) is 237,277+1, which is at least 237,278 voters.
“Across the 902 Polling Units in 57 Registration Areas and five Local Government Areas that make up the Senatorial District, the Commission ascertained 208,132 signatures/thumbprints from the submission made by the petitioners. This translates to 43.86% of the registered voters, which falls short of the constitutional requirement by 29,146 signatories.
“Consequently, the petition has not met the requirement of Section 69(a) of the Constitution. Therefore, no further action shall be taken on the recall of the Senator.
“In line with the provision of Clause 2(d) of the Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, the Commission has issued a Public Notice to that effect, which is also copied to the presiding officer of the Senate.
“The Public Notice, along with a summary of the review of the signatures/thumbprints of the petitioners, which are disaggregated by Local Government Areas, are available on our website and social media platforms for public information.”
