‘No Limits’ – INEC Speaks On Fresh Recall Petition Against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan

MaTaZ ArIsInG
Dallas, Texas

The Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Rotimi Oyekanmi, has said the Nigerian constitution places no limit on how many times a lawmaker can be subjected to a recall process.

Oyekanmi made the remark on Thursday while speaking on Politics Today, a programme on Channels Television.

His statement comes amid controversy surrounding the failed attempt to recall Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the lawmaker representing Kogi Central.

“The law does not specify how many times a lawmaker can be recalled. Section 69 of the constitution outlines the process but does not restrict the number of attempts,” Oyekanmi explained.

He added that for any recall to succeed, the petition must meet the constitutional requirement of signatures from at least 50 percent plus one of registered voters in the affected constituency.

Failed Recall Against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan

INEC earlier announced that the recall petition against Akpoti-Uduaghan failed to meet the constitutional threshold. The number of verified signatures, the commission said, fell short of the required 50 percent of registered voters in Kogi Central.

On March 24, a group of constituents led by Charity Omole submitted the recall petition at the INEC headquarters, citing Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension from the Senate as the reason for the action.

“We cannot afford to not have a representative in the Senate,” Omole said. “We are the ones who voted her in, and now we are saying we don’t want her anymore.”

Omole claimed that more than 250,000 out of 488,000 registered voters in the district had signed the petition. However, INEC said the original submission was incomplete, lacking the necessary contact details of the petitioners, as required by its guidelines.

INEC Denies Bias in Process

Oyekanmi dismissed claims that the electoral commission showed bias in handling the petition. He clarified that the commission only requested the missing information in line with procedural requirements.

“There is nowhere in the law that says INEC should reject a petition simply because the cover letter lacked an address,” he said.
“We merely asked for the petitioners to provide the missing contact information—it had nothing to do with partisanship or interference.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan had previously accused INEC of aiding the petitioners in perfecting their submission, claiming the process was being manipulated against her.

“INEC is aiding and guiding petitioners on how to perfect their illicit acts,” she said at a rally in Kogi on Tuesday. “They are clearly acting in favour of the other party.”

She alleged that the petitioners submitted their documents using the letterhead of an APC-linked group, Kogi Central Political Frontier, listing an address at “No. 4, Oboroke.”

Legal and Political Implications

Despite the backlash, Oyekanmi maintained that the commission acted within legal boundaries and stressed that the recall process is entirely constitutional and open-ended, provided the required threshold is met.

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