The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that the petition seeking the recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from Kogi Central does not meet the necessary requirements.
In a statement released on Tuesday, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, said that during INEC’s regular weekly meeting on March 25, 2025, the commission reviewed the petition submitted by Kogi Central constituents.
The petition, accompanied by six bags of documents, claimed to have signatures from over half of the 474,554 registered voters across 902 polling units in 57 registration areas within the five local government areas of Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ogori/Magongo, Okehi, and Okene.
Olumekun noted that the petition fell short of INEC’s guidelines because the representatives of the petitioners failed to provide adequate contact details.
He explained that the covering letter forwarded with the petition did not include proper contact addresses, telephone numbers, or e-mail addresses as required under Clause 1(f) of INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines.
He stated: “The address given is ‘Okene, Kogi State’, which is not a definite location for contacting the petitioners. Only the telephone number of ‘the lead petitioner’ is provided as against the numbers of all the other representatives of the petitioners.”
The commission reiterated that the recall of a legislator is a process initiated by registered voters who express their loss of confidence through a properly submitted petition.
Once the petition complies with all the submission requirements, INEC will begin the verification of signatures at each polling unit using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
Both the petitioners and the legislator subject to recall may nominate agents to monitor the process, with interested observers and the media also being accredited.
Olumekun added: “If the petitioners fully comply with the requirements of Clause 1(f) of the Regulations and Guidelines regarding the submission of their petition, the commission will announce the next steps in line with the extant laws, regulations and guidelines.”
He further remarked that, in the absence of a definite contact address, INEC is exploring alternative means to notify the petitioners about the deficiencies in their submission.
Olumekun reassured the public that the commission would adhere strictly to the legal framework governing recall processes and urged Nigerians to disregard any speculations or insinuations circulating on social media.
