UPDATED: INEC Rejects Recall Petition Against Senator Natasha

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has rejected the recall petition against suspended Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial district at the National Asembly, Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan, for the second time.

Naija News reports that the electoral umpire’s National Commissioner and Chairman of its Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, disclosed this on Thursday at the end of the Commission’s regular weekly meeting.

Olumekun said the decision of INEC followed the verification of signatures/thumbprints forwarded with the petition, which stood at 43.86%, instead of the more than 50% required by Section 69(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).

According to him, 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 national commissioner further said that INEC had assured Nigerians that it would handle the matter with fairness to the parties involved, adding it would be in line with the provisions of the law and our Regulations and Guidelines.

He said, “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.

“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.

“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.”