The moment of respite enjoyed by the Senator representing Kogi Central, Akpoti-Uduaghan appeared to be short lived, after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) notified her on the petition submitted by her constituents to recall her.
TheHintsNews reports that members of her constituents on Monday petitioned the electoral body and demanded her immediate recall.
However, the commission on Tuesday said the petition for her recall was not in compliance with the legal framework.
The commission explained 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 could be contacted as provided in Clause 1(f) of its Regulations and Guidelines.
But INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information & Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun in a follow up statement on Wednesday confirmed that the required details of the petitioners have now been provided in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Commission dated today Wednesday 26th March 2025.
He said: “Further to the statement issued yesterday, Tuesday 25th March 2025, the Commission hereby confirms that the contact address of representatives of the petitioners, their telephone numbers and e-mail addresses have now been provided in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Commission dated today Wednesday 26th March 2025.
“As provided in Clause 2(a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, a letter has been written to notify the Senator sought to be recalled about the receipt of the petition and delivered to her official address.
“ The same letter has been copied to the presiding officer of the Senate and published on the Commission’s website.
“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50 per cent) of the registered voters in the Constituency.
“This will be done in the coming days. The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission.”
The commission reassured Nigerians that the process would be open and transparent.
