UPDATED: INEC Rejects Petition To Recall Kogi Central Senator Over Breach Of Constitution
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected the petition to recall Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central in the Senate, for not meeting the constitutional requirements.
INEC’s decision followed a verification of the signatures and thumbprints submitted with the petition, which amounted to 43.86% of the required signatures. This falls short of the more than 50% mandated by Section 69(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) for a valid recall petition.
Sam Olumekun, the Commission’s national commissioner and chairman of its information and voter education committee, made the announcement on Thursday after the Commission’s regular weekly meeting.
He explained that for a recall petition to be valid, it must comply with Section 69(a) of the Constitution, which requires signatures from more than half of the registered voters in the constituency. For Kogi Central, with 474,554 registered voters, more than 237,278 signatures are needed.
The petitioners submitted 208,132 signatures/thumbprints, which represented 43.86% of the registered voters. This figure fell short of the constitutional requirement by 29,146 signatures.
Consequently, INEC stated that no further action would be taken on the recall petition, as it did not meet the necessary legal threshold.
“In line with 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,” Olumekun stated. The public notice and a summary of the review, including the disaggregated signatures/thumbprints by Local Government Areas, are available on INEC’s website and social media platforms for public access.
Olumekun assured Nigerians that INEC had handled the process fairly, ensuring the petitioners complied with submission requirements, notifying the Senator sought to be recalled, and publishing the notice publicly.
The Commission also confirmed that the verification of signatures was carried out in accordance with the law and its Regulations and Guidelines.
