The Director of Voter Education and Publicity at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Victoria Eta-Messi, says the recall process initiated against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has officially concluded.
Speaking during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday, Eta-Messi added that there is no clear legal provision for restarting it.
According to her, while INEC acted in line with constitutional guidelines, the law remains silent on whether a failed recall can be reinitiated or how soon a new petition could be filed.
“The law is silent on the recall process being started afresh. And we’re not sure, even if that were to happen, we’re not sure of the window that is required before a resubmission can be done,” she noted.
She, however, clarified that the threshold for a valid recall – 50% plus one of registered voters—was not met during the verification exercise. INEC confirmed that only 208,132 signatures, amounting to 43.8%, were validated.
“What the commission did yesterday was to state that, based on what was submitted earlier, the threshold was not met. They required 50% plus one. But what was got during the physical inspection of the signatures was 43.8%. So as it is, what we have on ground has been done with.
”It is a done deal. That process has come to an end in line with the provisions of the constitution. So if they were to start afresh now, well, I don’t know. The experts would advise us on that. But the law is silent on them representing, and how soon they should do that, we do not know. But when they come up with another petition, then I think we’ll cross the bridge when we get there.”
Eta-Messi also dismissed concerns about the legitimacy of the group behind the petition, noting that the Constitution only requires constituents, not a registered entity, to initiate a recall.
She said, “The constitution did not say that they must be a registered entity. It just said constituents who have lost confidence in their representative can seek their recall. So these are a group of people who came together. They just chose to give themselves a name. I don’t think it was necessary for us to go to the CAC to confirm if there is such a registered body.
”All we need is for the constituents to come together, put their signatures together, and naturally there would be need for us to have leaders within the local government who would be guiding this process. So they just chose to give themselves that name. I don’t think it was necessary for the commission to bellyache over that.”
The recall effort, spearheaded by a group called the Kogi Central Political Frontier, was based on allegations of misconduct and divisiveness against Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan. The petitioners expressed disappointment over the disqualified signatures but insisted they remain committed to pursuing the process. They thanked INEC for validating the majority of the signatures and claimed this disproved sceptics who questioned the petition’s authenticity.
In a public statement, the petitioners criticised the Senator’s recent comments, which they alleged were inflammatory and capable of inciting regional tensions. They reaffirmed their desire to see a change in representation, accusing Akpoti-Uduaghan of prioritising political survival over genuine service to her constituents.
