The Independent National Electoral Commission has given reasons why it rejected petitions for the recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Senate.
ENigeria News reports that Senator Natsha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District,, had been in the eye of the storm lately since her faceoff with senators inside the chambers, which saw her being suspended for six months for unruly behaviour.
ENigeria News reports that the senator whose constituents had begun a recall process to send her packing from the Senate, may have eventually scaled through another huddle as plans geared towards her recall has suffered serious setback, with INEC decalring that the process is flawed and failed to meet condition for recall stipulated in the constitution.
In an announcement via its official X handle on Thursday, INEC said the decision to reject Natasha’s recall process was rooted in the fat that it does not meet the necessary legal requirements.
The electoral commission stated that the petition failed to fulfill the conditions set under Section 69(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
Constituents from Kogi Central had submitted the recall petition to INEC last month. The petition was accompanied by six bags filled with documents containing signatures said to have been gathered from over half of the 474,554 registered voters in the district.
These signatures were collected from 902 polling units across the five local government areas of Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ogori/Magongo, Okehi, and Okene. INEC was expected to verify the signatures before deciding whether the recall process could proceed.
According to INEC regulations, for a recall to move forward, more than half of the registered voters in the senatorial district must sign the petition. If this threshold is met, the commission is required to conduct a referendum within 90 days. However, if the petition does not meet the required number of signatures, INEC must issue a public notice confirming its rejection.
The recall petition stems from ongoing controversies surrounding Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was suspended from the Senate on March 6 for alleged “gross misconduct” following a dispute with Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
