INEC confirms receipt, review of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan’s recall petition

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Nigeria has confirmed receipt of a petition seeking the recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District.

The petition, submitted by constituents, alleges “loss of confidence” in the senator due to claims of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, evasion of due process, and a pattern of deceitful behavior”.

The petition was accompanied by six bags of documents containing signatures from over half of the 474,554 registered voters in the district.

However, INEC noted that the petitioners failed to provide their contact address, telephone numbers, and email addresses, as required by the Commission’s regulations.

Despite this, INEC has begun reviewing the petition and will verify the signatures using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

The Commission reassures the public that it will follow the legal framework for recall, as outlined in the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and its Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.

The recall process is a constitutional right of registered voters, who can initiate it by signing a petition indicating loss of confidence in their legislator.

If the petition meets the requirements, INEC will conduct a verification exercise, followed by a referendum, where a majority of voters must support the recall for it to be valid.

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has been embroiled in controversy, including allegations of sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, which he denied. She was also suspended from the Senate for six months.

THE FULL STATEMENT

INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION

PRESS RELEASE

PETITION FOR THE RECALL OF THE SENATOR REPRESENTING KOGI CENTRAL SENATORIAL DISTRICT

The Commission held its regular weekly meeting today, Tuesday 25th March 2025. Among other issues, the meeting discussed the petition for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District.

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.

The Commission wishes to reiterate 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.

Once the petition meets the requirements of submission, as contained in our regulations, the Commission 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.

Sam Olumekun mni
National Commissioner & Chairman
Information and Voter Education Committee.
Tuesday 25th March 2025

For Diaspora Digital Media Updates click on Whatsapp, or Telegram. For eyewitness accounts/ reports/ articles, write to: citizenreports@diasporadigitalmedia.com. Follow us on X (Fomerly Twitter) or Facebook