Natasha’s Recall: We Don’t Trust INEC – SDP Spokesman

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) Press Secretary, in Kogi State, Isaiah Davies, has said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) did well by canceling the recall petition against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

Naija News reported that INEC’s  Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, stated that Senator Natasha’s recall petition was canceled because the signatures in the petition did not reach the 50 percent plus one required by the Constitution.

Speaking with News Central on Friday, Davis expressed worry that INEC can change its current stand on the recall petition.

The SDP spokesman noted that during the 2023 general election, INEC and its Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, failed to live up to their promises to Nigerians.

His words: “It’s easier for INEC’s spokesperson to come and speak nicely, explain the rule of law, explain all the procedures and all the steps that are needed to be taken according to our guidance, according to the  2022 Electoral Act as amended, and INEC guidance.

“But my issue is, we will hear them, they will come out and be saying one thing today, tomorrow, another thing. During the 2023 gubernatorial election, there were reports of about five local governments that the results sheets were filled before even the commencement of vote early in the morning. And there were protests everywhere.

“INEC came up and said, no, we’re going to cancel the local governments that were affected. We’re going to bring to book all the perpetrators and all these. At the end of the day, my brother, nothing. The following day, while that was going on, the professors were inside the coalition center calling the results.

“Now, as he’s talking, you will be surprised that he will be speaking according to the rule of law. Tomorrow you wake up, those in charge of the execution will be doing a different thing. That is the problem. That is the problem. It is not that we don’t have good laws in Nigeria. Trust me, any time I speak, I always talk about laws and order. I remember Professor Mahmood in Chatham House told Nigerians and told the whole world that only by BVAS that we will have elections. That one man, one vote, only through accreditation. But at the end of the day, trust me…

“That is why we issued a statement this morning, that yes, INEC has done the right thing at this stage. But we don’t trust them. We don’t trust what matters. You can wake up tomorrow and they’ll tell you that the signatures have been completed. Let’s proceed to the next stage. And before you know it..”