The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has faulted the petition filed to recall the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, with the concern that the petitioners failed to provide their contact details in the document.

The Commission disclosed this in a statement released by its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, on Tuesday after its weekly regular meeting, stating that it received six bags of documents containing over half of the 474,554 registered voters spread across 902 polling units in 57 Registration Areas (Wards) in the five local government areas in the senatorial district.

However, Mr. Olumekun stated that part of its earliest observation was that the petitioners failed to provide their contact address, telephone number, and e-mail addresses in the covering letter forwarding the petition, through which they could be contacted.

INEC maintained that the omission was against the provision of its regulations and guidelines. The commission also stated that petitioners only submitted a vague address and the telephone number of “the lead petitioner” instead of the numbers of all their other representatives.

Speaking about the conditions needed to fulfil the requirements for executing the recall process, INEC reaffirmed that the petition must come from registered voters, indicating a loss of confidence in the legislator representing them. 

The commission also maintained that the petition can only move further once it meets the requirements of submission, as contained in its regulations.

The statement fully reads, “The Commission held its regular weekly meeting today, Tuesday, 25th March 2025. Among other issues, the meeting discussed the petition for the recall of the senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District. The process of recall is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Act 2022, as well as the Commission’s detailed Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, available on our website. All petitions will be treated in strict compliance with the legal framework.

The petition from Kogi Central Senatorial District was accompanied by six bags of documents said to be signatures collected from over half of the 474,554 registered voters spread across 902 polling units in 57 registration areas (wards) in the five local government areas of Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ogori/Magongo, Okehi and Okene. 

The Commission’s immediate observation is that the representatives of the petitioners did not provide their contact address, telephone number(s), and e-mail address(es) in the covering letter forwarding the petition, through which they can be contacted, as provided in Clause 1(f) of our Regulations and Guidelines. The address given is “Okene, Kogi State”, which is not a definite location for contacting the petitioners. Only the phone number of “the lead petitioner” is given, not the other petitioners’ representatives.

The Commission wishes to reiterate that the recall of a legislator is the prerogative of registered voters in a constituency who sign a petition indicating loss of confidence in the legislator representing them. The Commission shall begin verifying the signatures in each polling unit in an open process restricted to only the registered voters who signed the petition, once the petition meets the submission requirements outlined in our regulations..

The petitioners and the member whose recall is sought shall be at liberty to nominate agents to observe the verification, while interested observers and the media will also be accredited. At each polling unit, signatories to the petition shall be verified using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

Consequently, if the petitioners fully comply with the requirements of Clause 1(f) of the regulations and guidelines regarding their submission, the commission will announce the next steps in line with the existing laws, regulations, and guidelines. In the absence of a definite contact address, the Commission is making efforts to use other means to notify the representatives of the petitioners of the situation. The Commission assures the public that the legal framework for recall will guide its actions. The public should therefore discountenance any speculations and insinuations in the social media.”

This recommendation is coming barely a day after a group of citizens who identified themselves as ‘concerned Kogi youth and women’ from the Kogi Central Senatorial District went to the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission to recall Natasha Akpoti Uduaghan from representing them.

The development cannot be precluded from the ongoing clash between Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the leadership of the Senate, including Godswill Akpabio, the Senate president, who was later accused of sexual harassment.