The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) held its weekly regular meeting on Tuesday 25th March 2025. In the statement signed by the National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun. Mni, one of the key issues discissed, at the meeting was the petition for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi State Central Senatorial District Senator Natasha Akpotii Udughan.
It was reported that the petition, which was accompanied by six bags of documents, purportedly contained signatures from over half of the 474,554 registered voters in the district.
It was disclosed that the signatures were collected from 902 Polling Units in 57 Registration Areas (Wards) across five Local Government Areas, including Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ogori/Magongo, Okehi, and Okene.
However, INEC noted that the representatives of the petitioners failed to provide their contact address, telephone numbers, and email addresses in the covering letter forwarding the petition.
This omission, according to INEC is a requirement specified in Clause 1(f) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall.and the recall process is guided by the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines.
The Commission reassured the public that it would adhere strictly to the legal framework for recall.
If the petitioners comply with the requirements, INEC will announce the next steps, which will include the verification of signatures using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
Although, the verification process will be open to registered voters who signed the petition, as well as agents nominated by the petitioners and the Senator whose recall is being sought, the Commission urged the public to disregard speculations and insinuations circulating on social media, assuring that it would keep the public informed about the progress of the recall process.
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