Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has been notified by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on her recall process.
The INEC Wednesday said in a letter to the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, that signatories to the petition have now included their addresses, email and phone numbers.
On Tuesday INEC had informed the petitioners that it cannot process their recall because it lacked data on their contacts. The leter to Akpoti Uudughan signed by Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information & Voter Education Committee stated: “The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the Constituency.
“This will be done in the coming days. The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission,” Olumekun said.
The recall process, a rare political development in Nigeria, requires that more than 50% of registered voters in the affected senatorial district sign the petition for it to move to the next stage, which includes a referendum.
The outcome of INEC’s verification will determine whether the recall process advances or is halted due to insufficient support.
Earlier in the day lawyers for Akpoti-Uduaghan argued that the INEC ought to have thrown out the petitions because it did not meet the requirements, but rather the INEC showed its bias by educating the petitioners on what they should do to make it valid.
