On Thursday, April 3, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) rejected a petition to recall Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central. INEC stated that the petition did not meet the necessary requirements for recalling a senator in Nigeria.
Earlier, INEC had received a petition from Natasha’s constituents, asking for her recall. The petition was handed over at INEC’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday by Rose Oriaran-Anthony, the Secretary of the Commission.
Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Kogi Central in the Senate, is currently on suspension for allegedly breaking Senate rules. The petitioners claimed that over 250,000 people from her district signed the petition, out of approximately 480,000 registered voters in the area. They called the petition, “Constituents’ Petition for the Recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Grounds of Loss of Confidence.”
INEC confirmed that it had checked the signatures and found that 208,132 were valid, but this number was still 29,146 short of the legal requirement needed for the recall process to continue.
In a statement released by Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner for Information & Voter Education, INEC explained that after reviewing the petition, they decided the recall would not proceed. The decision was made during INEC’s weekly meeting on Thursday.
INEC explained that the law requires petitions for recalling a senator to have more than half of the registered voters in the area sign it. In Kogi Central, there are 474,554 registered voters, and more than half of that would be 237,278 signatures. However, the petition only had 208,132 valid signatures, which is 43.86% of the voters, not enough to meet the constitutional requirement.
INEC also assured the public that the matter was handled fairly and according to the law, following all necessary steps, including notifying the senator and publishing the notice.
The Commission has now issued a Public Notice explaining the situation, and the information is available on their website and social media for everyone to see.
