Inec fault petitioners recall process for Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan

Representatives of di petitioners wey dey call for di recall of di senator for Kogi Central Senatorial District no provide any contact information for di cover letter dem take write di petition, di Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) tok.

Dis dey come as one group wey call themselves "Concerned Kogi Youths and Women" bin submit one petition for di recall of di suspended lawmaker, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan give Inec on Monday, 24 March.

Omole Ijese wey speak on behalf of di group tok say, more dan 250,000 registered voters out of di 488,000 voters from Kogi central senatorial district sign for di recall. She say e pass wetin di kontri electoral body ask for.

However, di Nigeria electoral body wey confam di receipt of di petition tok say di first tin dem notice as dem siddon to deliberate on di petition for dia weekly regular meeting na di absense of petitioners contact details .

Di National Commissioner & Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee for statement e issue on Tuesday, 25 March tok say, "di representatives of di petitioners no provide dia contact address, telephone number(s) and e-mail address(es) for di covering letter dem take forward di petition, as e dey for Clause 1(f) of our Regulations and Guidelines, through which we fit contact dem."

Inec say di address dem give na "Okene, Kogi State", and dat no be definite location for contacting di petitioners. Na only di telephone number of "di lead petitioner" dem provide, instead of di numbers of all di oda representatives of di petitioners.

Di electoral body say dem dey find ways to notify di representatives of di petitioners of di situation. "In di absence of a definite contact address, di Commission dey make efforts to use oda means to notify di representatives of di petitioners of di situation."

Di statement add say di representatives of di petitioners from Kogi Central Senatorial District bin come wit six bags of documents wey dem claim say na di signatures dem collect from ova half of di 474,554 registered voters wey spread across 902 Polling Units for 57 Registration Areas (Wards) for di five Local Government Areas of Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ogori/Magongo, Okehi and Okene.

Inec say once di petition meet di requirement of dia regulations, dem go go ahead to verify di signatures for each polling unit for inside one open process wey dey restricted to registered voters wey sign di petition only.

Di petitioners and di member wey dem dey recall get liberty to nominate agents to observe di verification, while interested observers and di media go also monitor am.

For each Polling Unit, dem go verify di signatories to di petition using di Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

if di petitioners fully follow di requirements of Clause 1(f) of di Regulations and Guidelines on top di submission of dia petition, di Commission go announce di next steps in line wit di extant laws, regulations and guidelines.

Di group of registered voters from Kogi Central Senatorial District dey demand for di recall of di senator wey dey represent di district for di National Assembly, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan as Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan dey in di middle of one controversy wia she accuse di Senate President, Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her.

Di group wey call themselves "Concerned Kogi Youths and Women" submit di petition for di recall of di suspended lawmaker give di Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) on Monday, 24 March. Di commission secretary, Rose Anthony receive am.

Omole Ijese wey speak on behalf of di group tok say, more dan 250,000 registered voters out of di 488,000 voters from Kogi central senatorial district sign for di recall. She say e pass wetin di kontri electoral body ask for.

However, di lawmaker for one post on Instagram express hope say nothing fit shift her from her position, and she go represent di pipo of Kogi Central till 2027.

"To silence my truth, dem unjustly suspend me and now I dey middle of wayo recall.

I trust God say we go dey victorious and I go remain di senator wey dey represent di Unbent, Unbowed and Unbroken people of Kogi Central till 2027," Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan write for di post.

Why some constituency members dey call for Senator Natasha recall

Dem title di petition, Constituents' Petition for di Recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Grounds of Loss of Confidence'.

Di constituents write for di petition say, "In particular, dis petition for the recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan na according to Section 69 of di 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), as well as INEC Regulations and Guidelines for Recall Petitions."

Dem say di petition dey come as dem don lose confidence for Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan representation for di National Assembly, even though she get di seat through one Appeal Court decision for October 2023.

Dem list gross misconduct, abuse of office, evasion of due process as part of di reasons why dem no want her again.

"Dis petition dey come from our loss of confidence in di senator on top di grounds of gross misconduct, abuse of office, evasion of due process, and a pattern of deceitful behaviour wey no only dey embarrass di pipo of Kogi Central but wey also don spoil di integrity of di Nigerian Senate and our nation democratic institutions."

Wetin be di steps wey dey involved in recalling a legislator?

Di recall process na one constitutional method wey dey allow voters to remove elected legislator bifor di end of dia tenure, if dem lose confidence for dia representation.

Di recall process get three stages and e start wit;

Di concerned voters or groups wey dey seek di lawmaker removal must submit petition give di kontri electoral body, di Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec).

Afta Inec receive di petition, di constitution make am compulsory for Inec to carry out verification exercise to confam say na di required percentage of registered voters really sign di petition.

Also if di petition dey in line wit di laws, regulations and guidelines for Recall.

Wetin be di Verification stage for di Recall Proceeding?

Dis na di process of verifying di signatures of those wey sign di petition for a recall.

Inec go conduct di Verification exercise for di polling units for di constituency of di affected lawmakers. Na only those wey sign di petition go participate for di verification process.

"Sections 69 and 110 of di Constitution of di Federal Republic of Nigeria and section 116 of di Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) empower Inec to conduct Recall proceedings against a member of di National Assembly, State House of Assembly, or di Area Council of the FCT, afta dem don receive valid petition wey allege loss of confidence in di member, by more dan 50% of voters wey dey registered to vote for dat member constituency," Inec tok.

Wetin be di Referendum stage for di Recall process?

If di petition pass di verification stage, Inec go come organise a referendum. Dis stage na for all registered voters for di constituency, wey go either vote "YES" or "NO" on weda make dem remove di lawmaker from office or not.

For di recall to dey successful, di "YES" votes must pass di total registered voters for di constituency by 50%.

Inec dey conduct di Referendum for di polling units for di constituency of di member dem write petition against.

If di recall referendum dey successful, Inec go issue Certificate of Recall give di presiding officer of di affected legislative house, dat go officially end di tenure of di senator.

Dem go come do bye-election to elect pesin wey go replace di recalled senator for di National Assembly.

However, if di referendum fail to meet di required voter threshold, di senator go remain for office.

How long Recall process dey take?

Di law provide say Inec must conclude a Recall process within 90 days from di date dem receive di receipt of di petition.

Recalled members fit re-contest?

No law dey wey stop pesin wey dem recall from re-contesting.

Oda times wey lawmakers go dey recalled by dia constituents

Dis no be di first time, constituents members go make attempt to recall dia representative either from di National Assembly or from di House of Representatives.

Di first time na for 2000, wen constituents members of George Okoye wey bin dey represent Njikoka-2 Constituency for di House of Representatives, bin initiate di process. But afta legal battles between Okoye and Inec, di recall fail sake of low voter turnout for di referendum.

For 2017, Inec bin receive petition to recall one former senator wey represent Kogi West for di National Assembly, Dino Melaye, but di recall process no scale through.

Farouk Aliyu, den a member representing Birnin-Kudu/Buji Federal Constituency of Jigawa State for di House of Representatives, also face a recall attempt, but di process no proceed as fewer dan di required number of voters turn out for di referendum.

For 2006, Farouk Aliyu, di lawmaker wey bin represent Birnin-Kudu/Buji Federal Constituency of Jigawa State for di House of Representatives, bin also face a recall attempt, but di process delay becos di required number of voters wey turn out for di referendum no reach di number wey di law stipulate.

Dem also initiate one recall process against Umar Jibril, wey bin represent Lokoja/Kogi/Koton Karfe Federal Constituency. But di process no scale through as some oda constituents file counter-petition to INEC, and allege say dem force dem to give dia signatures and dem no give dia consent for di recall.

Even though one group don submit dis recall petition for senator Akpoti, concerns dey on how dem take gada di signatures.

Reports from di constituency suggest say e be like dem use magomago collect di signatures of those wey sign.