The Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, released a press statement concerning the recall petition presented by Kogi Central constituents on behalf of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.
The commission held a meeting, and discussed the petition for the recall of the suspended Kogi Central senator. The process of this recall is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022 as well as the Commission’s detailed Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, stating that” all petitions will be treated in strict compliance with the legal framework.”
The petition is said to have been accompanied with six bags of documents, which are said to bear the signatures of over half the 474,554 registered voters across the 902 polling units in 57 wards in five Local Government Areas.
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It was immediately noticed by the commission that the contact address, phone numbers, and e-mail address of the representatives of these petitioners were not provided and that only the phone number of the lead petitioner was given, thus not complying with the provisions of Clause 1(f) of the Regulation and Guidelines.
However, the Commission wishes to restate 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.” That once the requirements of submission are met, the commission will commence the verification of the signatures with other due proceedings, and the next step will be announced in line with the extant laws, regulations, and guidelines.
And in the absence of a definite contact address, the commission will make efforts to use other available means to notify the representatives of these petitioners, thereby reassuring the public that everything will be done within the ambiance of the legal framework and should do away with any form of propaganda, insinuations, and speculations from the social media.
The statement reads:
“Kogi Central Recall Petition: INEC Confirms Receipt, Insists on Due Process
By Nathaniel Gana
26th March 2025
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed receipt of a petition seeking to recall of the Senator representing the Kogi Central Senatorial District.
According to a statement dated 25th March 2025 and signed by National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Mr. Sam Olumekun mni, the petition was accompanied by six bags of documents said to contain the signatures collected from over half of the 474,554 registered voters spread across 902 polling units in 57 Registration Areas under the five Local Government Areas of Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ogori/Magongo, Okehi and Okene.
But Mr Olumekun observed that the representatives of the petitioners did not provide their contact address, telephone numbers and e-mail addresses in the covering letter forwarding the petition, through which they could be reached as required by Clause 1(f) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
Rather, he noted, the address given was “Okene, Kogi State” which is not a definite location for contacting the petitioners. He said “only the telephone number of the lead petitioner was provided as against the numbers of all the other representatives of the petitioners. 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 National Commissioner maintained that the recall of a legislator “is a prerogative of registered voters in a constituency who sign a petition indicating loss of confidence in the legislator representing them”. He affirmed that once a petition met all submission requirements, INEC would commence a verification of the signatures at each polling unit in an open process restricted to the registered voters that signed the petition only.
The IVEC Chairman said petitioners and the member whose recall is sought would be at liberty to nominate agents to observe the verification, while interested observers and the media would also be accredited. He also assured that signatories to the petition would be verified using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) each Polling Unit. He urged the public to discountenance any speculation and innsinuations on the social media.
The process of recall is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022 and the Commission’s detailed Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024. It is available on the INEC website. The Commission treats all recall petitions in strict compliance with the legal framework.”
