Hot SourceAdedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that the petition for the recall of the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, was not in compliance with legal framework.
Akpoti-Uduaghan is presently serving a six-month suspension over the sexual harassment allegation against the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
A court of law had last Thursday granted an interim injunction restraining INEC, its staff, agents or privies from receiving, accepting or acting on any petition containing signatures of members of Kogi Central Senatorial District.
But, a Federal High Court in Lokoja, Kogi State last Friday set aside an earlier ruling that restrained INEC from receiving the recall process initiated by constituents of Kogi Central Senatorial District against Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The court, in its judgment, affirmed that the recall process is constitutionally valid and aligns with the civic rights of the constituents, and urged the constituents to continue exercising their rights in an orderly and peaceful manner.
However, INEC National Commissioner & Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, in a statement issued Tuesday said the electoral body had discussed the petition for the recall of the embattled senator.
He explained that 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, and also available on its website.
Olumekun stressed that all petitions will be treated in strict compliance with the legal framework.
He noted: “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 reiterated 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.
Olumekun added: “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.”
