The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that the petition to recall Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has not met the constitution’s requirements.
In a statement on Thursday, the electoral commission gave reasons why the recall process of Senator Natasha, who is currently serving a six months suspension from the Senate could not proceed.
“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)”. the post reads.
According to the commission, the decision was reached at its regular weekly meeting today, Thursday, 3rd April 2025. “Among other issues, the meeting considered and approved the report of its physical count of the signatures/thumbprints forwarded with the petition for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, in line with Clause 2(b) of the Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.”
INEC stated that in line with its earlier promise of ensuring fairness to the parties involved in the handling of the matter, and in line with the provisions of the constitution and its regulations and guidelines.
“First, we ensured that the petitioners complied with the requirements for the submission of the petition. Secondly, we notified the member sought to be recalled in writing, copied the presiding officer of the Senate and simultaneously published the notice on our website. Thirdly, we informed Nigerians that the next step would be to carefully ascertain the number of signatures/thumbprints to ensure that the petition complies with the requirements of the law. This exercise has now been completed.”
Continuing, the nation’s electoral umpire stated further that its decision to reject the recall petition was based on the provision of Section 69(a) of the Constitution, adding that the petitioners failed to meet the required one-half of the registered voters in the constituency.
“For emphasis, a petition for the recall of a Senator must comply with the provision of Section 69(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), which requires the signatures of more than one-half of the registered voters in the constituency. The total number of registered voters in the Kogi Central Senatorial District is 474,554. More than one-half of this figure (i.e. 50%+1) is 237,277+1 which is at least 237,278 voters”.
“Across the 902 Polling Units in 57 Registration Areas and five Local Government Areas that make up the Senatorial District, the Commission ascertained 208,132 signatures/thumbprints from the submission made by the petitioners. This translates to 43.86% of the registered voters, which falls short of the constitutional requirement by 29,146 signatories.
“Consequently, the petition has not met the requirement of Section 69(a) of the Constitution. Therefore, no further action shall be taken on the recall of the Senator.’
INEC added that in line with the provision of Clause 2(d) of the Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, a public notice has been issued, which is also copied to the presiding officer of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio.
“The Public Notice, along with a summary of the review of the signatures/thumbprints of the petitioners, which are disaggregated by Local Government Areas, are available on our website and social media platforms for public information,”.
Recall that INEC had earlier rejected the petition for lacking essential contact details and failing to meet the necessary requirements for further processing. However, the commission later confirmed that the petitioners had provided the details.
It was not clear at press time whether the petitioners would be given a second chance to amend their petition to comply with the extant law, or the petition would be rejected entirely.
