BREAKING: Verification process Begins As INEC Notifies Suspended Senator Natasha Of Recall Petition
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that it has officially notified Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of the petition seeking her recall as the representative of Kogi Central Senatorial District.
In a statement issued today, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, disclosed that the petitioners have now provided the required contact details, including their address, telephone numbers, and email addresses.
INEC further stated that it would now proceed with the scrutiny of the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to verify that the petition is endorsed by more than half of the registered voters in the constituency, reports Nigerian Tribune.
The Commission emphasised that the outcome of this verification would determine the next step in the recall process.
The statement reads, “Further to the statement issued yesterday, Tuesday 25th March 2025, the Commission hereby confirms that the contact address of representatives of the petitioners, their telephone numbers and e-mail addresses have now been provided in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Commission dated today Wednesday 26th March 2025.
“As provided in Clause 2(a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, a letter has been written to notify the Senator sought to be recalled about the receipt of the petition and delivered to her official address. The same letter has been copied to the presiding officer of the Senate and published on the Commission’s website.
”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.
“We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent.”
Recall that INEC had yesterday announced that the recall petition initially lacked essential details, including a clear contact address, and therefore did not meet the Commission’s requirements for further processing.
The petition was accompanied by six bags of documents, reportedly containing signatures from over half of the 474,554 registered voters across the district’s 902 polling units.
At the time, INEC noted that the covering letter forwarding the petition only listed “Okene, Kogi State” as the contact address and included just the lead petitioner’s phone number instead of those of all representatives, as required under Clause 1(f) of its recall regulations.
