INEC Explains Why Petition to Recall Senator Natasha Failed
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed the petition seeking to recall Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, after the petition failed to meet constitutional requirements. In a statement released on Thursday, INEC explained that following a comprehensive review of the petition’s submitted signatures and thumbprints, only 208,132 of the 250,000 claimed signatures were verified. This number fell short by 29,146 signatures, as the constitution requires more than half of the registered voters in a constituency—237,278 valid signatures in this case.
INEC further explained that the total number of registered voters in Kogi Central is 474,554, and at least 237,278 valid signatures were necessary for the petition to proceed. The petition was submitted by a group of registered voters from the district, who expressed a lack of confidence in Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s ability to effectively represent them.
The petitioners had initially claimed that approximately 250,000 voters signed the petition, but INEC’s verification process found a substantial discrepancy. According to Sam Olumekun, the Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, the verified signatures represented only 43.86% of the district’s registered voters. This figure was insufficient to meet the constitutional requirement, leading INEC to officially announce that no further action would be taken on the recall petition.
INEC emphasized that the petition did not fulfill the provisions of Section 69(a) of the Constitution of Nigeria, which mandates that more than half of the registered voters in a constituency must sign a recall petition for it to be valid. As a result, the recall process for Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has been halted, with the public notice and details of the signature review published on INEC’s website and social media platforms for transparency.
