Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Thursday expressed her approval of the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) decision to reject a petition for her recall as the lawmaker representing Kogi Central Senatorial District.
Speaking during a televised interview Akpoti-Uduaghan, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), commended INEC, although she believed the petition should have been dismissed much earlier. “I’m a lawyer. I’m a senator, and I understand how Nigeria works. For me, the most important thing is that this recall process has been stalled,” she said.
She continued, “I give kudos and credit to INEC, even though I believe they should have thrown it away from the start. I think it was void ab initio because there is no law in the Electoral Act that says a petition should be discarded just because there is no address. But again, what if the address is false?”
Akpoti-Uduaghan argued that many of the addresses provided in the petition for her recall were inaccurate, noting that many houses in her district are not labeled. “Even though INEC counted 208,000 signatures, I bet you if they had gone into the verification stage, they would have struggled to even have 500 people come out to attest to signing that,” she added.
The senator also accused several political figures, including Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Governor Usman Ododo, and former Governor Yahaya Bello, of being behind the failed recall attempt.
In its official statement on Thursday, INEC confirmed that the petition did not meet the necessary requirements under Section 69(a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended). “Therefore, no further action shall be taken on the recall of the Senator,” the Commission declared.
INEC spokesman Rotimi Oyekanmi on Thursday assured the public that the Commission acted impartially and professionally throughout the process, reaffirming that the petition did not meet the procedural requirements for recall.
Earlier, Akpoti-Uduaghan’s lawyer, Victor Giwa, had accused the Kogi State Government of sponsoring the recall effort. He alleged that Charity Omole, an aide to Governor Usman Ododo, led the charge in submitting the petition to INEC.
This recall attempt came amid a broader political dispute involving Akpoti-Uduaghan’s seat arrangement with Senate President Akpabio. The lawmaker had also accused Akpabio of sexual harassment and abuse of office, which led to her six-month suspension from the Senate for misconduct.
