The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that the petition for the recall of Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District has not met the requirement.
In a terse statement on Thursday, INEC noted that the amended Nigerian constitution does not support the petition.
Natasha, a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) member has faced a political turmoil since she accused Nigeria’s senate president, Godswill Akpabio of the All Progressives Congress (APC) of sexual assault.
She was suspended by the Nigerian senate and a recall process was initiated by those in her constituency but relief has come her way with the announcement by INEC.
“The petition for the recall of the Senator representing the Kogi Central Senatorial District has not met the requirement of Section 69(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended),” INEC said.
Charity Omole, a representative of the constituents, said they submitted the petition to recall the senator because the constituency cannot afford not to have a representative in the senate following her suspension.
“We have come to recall her so that we can have a representative in the senate. We are here to tell lNEC to please follow the constitutional process for a recall so that a recall process can begin,” Omole said.
“We submitted the petition and it has been received. All other documents have been received.
“We are the ones that voted her and we don’t want her anymore because we cannot afford not to have a representative. Nobody is bankrolling us. Nobody is having any personal issue with her. It is just what it is. The game is the game.”
The representative said there are 488,000 registered voters in Kogi central, out of which more than 250,000 have signed the recall petition.
INEC, however, said the petitioners did not provide their contact details.
On March 26, INEC said it had notified Natasha about the petition by constituents seeking her recall from the national assembly.
INEC said it had also received the contact details of the petitioners.
Speaking at her homecoming rally on Tuesday, Natasha accused the electoral body of bias in her recall.
“What I see INEC doing is aiding and guiding petitioners on how to perfect their illicit acts,” she said.
“The first time the petition was submitted, they didn’t have address and phone numbers, so INEC went out to guide them on how to submit information that will perfect their petition.
“And what did they do? The petitioners, who were from the other party, the APC, submitted a letterhead. What was the name of it? Kogi Central Political Frontier. And the address there was number 4, Oboroke.”
