From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has thrown out a petition to recall Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central. It failed to meet Section 69(a) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution.
INEC reviewed the petition and decided no further steps would be taken. Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information & Voter Education Committee, shared this in a statement.
He said the petitioners submitted 208,132 signatures across 902 polling units in 57 registration areas and five local government areas (LGAs) in the district.
The statement reads: “The commission held its regular weekly meeting and, among other issues, considered and approved the report of its physical count of the signatures/thumbprints forwarded with the petition for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, in line with Clause 2(b) of the Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.”
INEC promised fairness and legal compliance.
“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,” it said.
It added, “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.”
Section 69(a) requires signatures from over half of the registered voters in the area.
Kogi Central has 474,554 voters. Half plus one is 237,278. The 208,132 signatures equal 43.86%, falling short by 29,146.
“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,” the statement said.
INEC issued a public notice sent to the Senate’s presiding officer and posted details online.