Kogi Central Constituents Petition INEC for Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s Recall

 

Some members of the Kogi Central constituency have officially submitted a petition to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) seeking the recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents the district in the National Assembly.

Under Nigerian law, a recall process requires: A petition signed by more than 50% of registered voters in the constituency.  Verification of the signatures by INEC.  A referendum to decide the senator’s fate

The entire process must be completed within 90 days from the date of submission.

Addressing journalists on Monday, March 24, Charity Omole, a representative of the petitioners, stated that their goal is to ensure Kogi Central has active representation in the Senate.

“We have come to recall her so that we can have a representative in the Senate. We are here to tell INEC to please follow the constitutional process for a recall.”

Omole confirmed that INEC has received all necessary documents to begin the process.

The move to recall Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan follows her suspension from the Senate on March 6 for alleged "gross misconduct." The suspension stemmed from a dispute over seating arrangements with Senate President Godswill Akpabio—an incident that occurred just days after she accused Akpabio of sexual harassment.

Despite speculation that the recall effort is politically motivated, Omole insisted that the petition came directly from voters and was not influenced by any external forces.

“We are the ones that voted for her, and we don’t want her anymore because we cannot afford not to have a representative. Nobody is bankrolling us.”

According to Omole, the petition has been signed by over 250,000 of the 488,000 registered voters in Kogi Central.

INEC is now expected to: Review the petition to ensure it meets legal requirements, verify the signatures of the signatories and determine whether a referendum will be conducted