Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed it is proceeding with the verification of a petition seeking the recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti from her Kogi Central senatorial seat. In a press release on Wednesday, INEC stated that it has received the required contact details from the petitioners, following an initial delay. The commission has also notified Senator Akpoti of the petition, as mandated by its regulations.”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,” INEC said in a statement released by Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information & Voter Education Committee.
The commission has pledged to conduct the process “openly and transparently,” with the outcome to be made public.
Senator’s Lawyers Kicks
Earlier on Wednesday, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, through her lawyer Victor Giwa, accused INEC of compromising its neutrality. In a letter dated March 26th, she argued that instead of declaring the petition incompetent due to its procedural shortcomings, INEC had offered guidance to the petitioners.
The letter stated, “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.”
Mr. Giwa argued that the correct course of action for INEC, given the missing information, was to declare the petition “incompetent” and disregard it
Add Comment