FCT, Abuja – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) held its regular weekly meeting on Tuesday, March 25, 2025.
Legit.ng reports that among other matters, the meeting discussed the petition for the recall of suspended Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the senator representing Kogi Central.
The commission said the process of recall is enshrined in the 1999 constitution, the Electoral Act 2022 as well as the commission’s regulations and guidelines for Rrecall 2024, available on its website. INEC stated that all petitions will be treated in strict compliance with the legal framework.
INEC provides update on recall process against Natasha
Providing an update on the petition for the recall of Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan via a statement by Sam Olumekun, its national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education committee, INEC said the request was accompanied by six bags of documents.
The documents were reportedly signatures collected from over half of the 474,554 registered voters spread across 902 polling units (PUs) in 57 registration areas (wards) in the five local government areas (LGAs) of Ajaokuta, Adavi, Okene, Ogori/Magongo, and Okehi.
Moves to recall Natasha: INEC shares observation
INEC’s statement reads:
“The Commission’s immediate observation is that the representatives of the petitioners did not provide their contact address, 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.”
INEC stressed 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.
It said:
“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 that signed the petition only. The petitioners and the member whose recall is sought 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.”
Conclusively, INEC reassured Nigerians that it will be guided by the legal framework for the recall which has been activated. It counselled the public to ignore any speculations and insinuations on social media.
Senator Natasha rejects purported apology
Earlier, Legit.ng reported that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan denied reports suggesting that she has apologised to the senate over the controversy that led to her suspension.
In a statement obtained by Legit.ng, the Kogi lawmaker described the claims as “false and misleading,” reaffirming her stance on the issue that resulted in her six-month suspension.
