Break: Inec rejects a petition to recall Senator Natasha, mention the failure to meet the constitutional requirements

The election body made this unveiling handle on Thursday afternoon on its official X (formerly Twitter). The Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) stated that the petition that investigated the recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Outuaghan failed to comply with the constitutional threshold required for such a process. The election body made this unveiling handle on Thursday afternoon on its official X (formerly Twitter). “The petition for the recall of the Senator representing the Kogi Central Senatorial District did not meet the requirement of Article 69 (a) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic Nigeria 1999 (as amended),” Inec wrote. This latest turn in the recall Saga comes barely a week after Inec initially accepted the petition, after submitting contact details and addresses by the requesters. Inc’s sudden rejection of the petition raises questions, especially if the commission confirmed just a few days ago that it moved to the verification phase to determine whether the petition had the support of more than 50 percent of the 474,554 registered voters in the Kogi -Central Senatory District. In his statement on March 26, Inec announced that the requesters had corrected earlier shortcomings by providing their contact information, which led the commission to notify the Senator Akpoti-Ouduaghan and continued with the investigation into the signatures. However, today’s announcement indicates that the petition failed at this critical stage, although Inec has not yet provided details about the specific deficit. This development is likely to cause further speculation that the recall effort was politically motivated. The step to remember the Senator Natasha Akpoti-Outuaghan was engulfed in controversy, with the allegations that political allies of the former Governor of Kogi, Yahaya Bello, orchestrated the process. Akpoti-Outuaghan was an outspoken critic of the Kogi-political institution, especially the administration of the former governor. Several reports have indicated that some voters were misled to sign the reminder request under the handicap of an empowerment program. The recall process is also facing a legal challenge. A Federal High Court in Lokoja earlier issued an interim order preventing Inec from acting on any petition against Akpoti-Outuaghan, citing the allegations of fraudulent signatures. The case is scheduled for a trial on May 6, 2025.