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| Charity Ijese with her bags of fake documents behind her |
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has raised concerns over the recall petition for Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, citing the absence of essential contact details from the petitioners.
Sam Olumekun, national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education committee, said in a statement that the petition, submitted on Monday, March 24, 2025, included six bags of documents allegedly containing signatures from over half of the 474,554 registered voters in Kogi Central.
However, INEC noted that the petitioners failed to provide their addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses, as required by the commission’s regulations.
The petition, presented by Charity Ijese on behalf of constituents, was received by INEC’s Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony. While the petition claims to represent voters from five local government areas and covers 902 polling units, the vague address provided - simply “Okene, Kogi State” - does not meet INEC’s standards.
This development comes as INEC begins reviewing the petition, which seeks Akpoti-Uduaghan’s recall over allegations of gross misconduct, abuse of office, and deceitful behavior.
“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,” the statement reads.
“The address given is “Okene, Kogi State”, which is not a definite location for contacting the petitioners. Only the telephone number of “the lead petitioner” is provided as against the numbers of all the other representatives of the petitioners.”
On Monday, March 24, 2025, some indigenes of Kogi central constituency submitted a petition to INEC, requesting Akpoti-Uduaghan’s recall.
Charity Omole, speaking on behalf of the constituents, explained that the petition was submitted to ensure Kogi Central remains duly represented in the Senate, adding that the district cannot afford a legislative vacuum.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended from the senate on March 6, 2025, for “gross misconduct” after a seating arrangement altercation with Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
The suspension came just days after she accused Akpabio of sexually harassing her.
Olumekun said the recall process is guided by the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and its regulations and guidelines for recall 2024.
He explained that once the petition meets the submission requirements, INEC will commence verifying signatures in each polling unit using the bimodal voter accreditation system (BVAS).
He said the petitioners and the lawmaker, whose recall is sought will be at liberty to nominate agents to observe the verification, while interested observers and the media will also be accredited.
“Consequently, if the petitioners fully comply with the requirements of Clause 1(f) of the Regulations and Guidelines regarding the submission of their petition, the Commission will announce the next steps in line with the extant laws, regulations and guidelines,” Olumekun said.
“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.”
INEC reassured Nigerians that the commission would be guided by the legal framework for recall.
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