PARIS OLYMPIC GAMES
Barely a day after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) expressed concerns over the petition seeking her recall, Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central, has slammed the commission for not dismissing the petition outright, saying its response smacks of bias.
Persecondnews had reported that INEC in a statement on Tuesday signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, confirmed receiving the petition, which reportedly contains signatures from more than half of the 474,554 registered voters in the senatorial district.
The petition was submitted by a woman, Charity Ijese, on behalf of the constituents and received by INEC’s Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, on Monday in Abuja.
However, the electoral body pointed out that the petition lacked crucial information, including the petitioners’ contact addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses, which are mandatory requirements outlined in the commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
Responding through her lawyer, Mr. Victor Giwa, Akpoti-Uduaghan, in a letter dated March 26, accused INEC of compromising its neutrality by offering guidance to the petitioners instead of declaring the petition incompetent due to its procedural flaws.
The letter partly reads: “Your position as disclosed in your press release on March 25, 2025, signed by Sam Olumekun shows that the Commission has taken sides and has become partial in favour of the Petitioners in this case.
“The Commission has observed that the Petitioners’ Petition did not meet the threshold of the requirement of a Petition to recall a member, having not contained the required contact addresses, telephone numbers and email addresses in their covering letter forwarding the Petition as contained in Clause 1(f) of INEC Regulation and Guideline.
“The proper thing and step to have been taken is to declare the Petition as “incompetent” and subsequently disregard same.”
The embattled lawmaker emphasized that INEC’s impartiality would have been better demonstrated by declaring the petition defective, thereby ending the process.
She added: “Lawfully, the commission is supposed to have declared the Petition as incompetent for being patently defective for the reasons stated above but surprisingly, the commission, instead of disregarding the petition for failure to meet the requirements, opted to take the role of an adviser to the petitioners and so advised the petitioners that once they provide the needed information that is not contained in the petition by meeting the requirements, it shall commence the verification of the signatures in each polling units.
“We posit that the Commission has by this press release shown partisanship and partiality in favour of the Petitioner and has compromised the process.
“The proper step to take by the Commission, if the Commission will maintain its integrity and impartiality, is to declare the petition as incompetent and defective and notify the petitioners accordingly. Therefore, putting an end to this process at this stage.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan highlighted that the petition’s legitimacy was further compromised by the fact that the addresses listed were predominantly from Okene, Kogi State, implying that the signatures may not be representative of the entire Kogi Central senatorial district.
She said: “Secondly, the address disclosed and provided in the petition according to your press release was Okene Kogi State, meaning that the two hundred and fifty signatories as contained in the petition came only from Okene, Kogi state, which seems more probable.”
She insisted that INEC’s decision to permit petitioners to rectify errors instead of outrightly disqualifying the petition was a breach of due process, and urged the commission to reconsider its stance.
She said: “Do the needful and rebuild the public trust that is fast declining.
We still believe that the Commission will act rightly”.
Persecondnews had reported that the petition stems from a series of contentious events, culminating in her suspension from the Senate on March 6, due to alleged “gross misconduct” sparked by a dispute with Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The petition, titled “Constituents’ Petition for the Recall of Sen. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Grounds of Loss of Confidence,” sought her removal due to allegations of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, evasion of due process, and deceitful behaviour.”
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