Game Up For Natasha’s Re-callers As INEC Pulls The Plug On Constituents’ Petition

The plot to recall the senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has suffered a major setback as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said the petition submitted fell short of expectation.

In a statement by Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner & Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee after its weekly meetings, the electoral umpire noted that the representatives of the petitioners did not provide their contact addresses, 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 our regulations and guidelines.

The commission, however, reassured the public that it would be guided by the legal framework for a recall. The statement read: “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, available on our website. All petitions will be treated in strict compliance with the legal framework.

“The petition from Kogi Central 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 statement noted.

Making more critical appraisal of the petition, the commission said: “The commission’s immediate observation is that the representatives of the petitioners did not provide their contact addresses, 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 wishes to reiterate 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. 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 who signed the petition only.

“The petitioners and the member whose recall is sought for 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.”

(The Sun, excluding reworked headline)