INEC writes Senate, Akpoti-Uduaghan, kickstarts process of recalling senator

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has written to the presiding officers of the Senate and the Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, kick-starting the process of recalling the senator.

The commission disclosed this in a statement by its Spokesperson, Sam Olumekun, on Wednesday.

Akpoti-Udughan’s recall

PREMIUM TIMES reported that some voters, under the aegis of Concerned Kogi Youth and Women, on Monday, submitted a petition for the recall of Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

In a letter addressed to INEC chairperson, Mahmood Yakubu, members of the group said they had lost confidence in her representation at the National Assembly and, therefore, asked the commission to commence the process of recalling her.

INEC, however, said on Tuesday that the petitions submitted did not include the contact address, telephone numbers and email addresses of the petitioners.

INEC receives contact details

In the Wednesday’s statement, Mr Olumekun, INEC said it has now received the phone numbers and email addresses of the petitioners which were missing in the initial petition submitted to the commission.

He said the commission has written to the presiding officers of the Senate and Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan whom the petitioners sought to recall, to inform them of the commencement of the process.

“As provided in Clause 2(a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, a letter has been written to notify the Senator sought to be recalled about the receipt of the petition and delivered to her official address. The same letter has been copied to the presiding officer of the Senate and published on the Commission’s website,” the statement said.

INEC noted that the next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than 50 per cent of the registered voters in the constituency.

“This will be done in the coming days. The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission,” the statement added.

INEC’s Recall Process

The commission had explained that once a petition meets the requirements of submission, as contained in its regulations, it will commence the verification of the signatures in each polling unit in an open process restricted to registered voters that signed the petition only.

It said the petitioners, the elected official whose recall is sought, interested observers and the media can also nominate agents who will be accredited to observe the verification process.

“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 the submission of their petition, the commission will announce the next steps in line with the extant 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 ” INEC said.

Legal framework for recall

Section 69 of the Constitution states that: A member of the Senate or of the House Representatives may be recalled as such a member if –

(a) there is presented to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission a petition in that behalf signed by more than one-half of the persons registered to vote in that member’s constituency alleging their loss of confidence in that member; and

(b) the petition is, thereafter, in a referendum conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission within ninety days of the date of receipt of the petition, approved by a simple majority of the votes of the persons registered to vote in that member’s constituency.

Akpoti-Uduaghan’s ordeal

The Senate, on 6 March, suspended Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), for six months following the recommendations of its ethics, privileges and public petitions committee.

The decision of the upper chamber followed her alleged misconduct during a plenary session on 20 February and her refusal to adhere to its sitting arrangement.

It imposed several penalties on Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, including withdrawing all her security aides and closing her office in the National Assembly.

She was also asked to hand over all properties of the Senate in her possession to the Clerk to the National Assembly, while she was also prohibited from entering the premises of the federal legislature during the period of suspension.

The Senate also suspended her salary and allowances and banned her from presenting herself as a senator locally and internationally.

The upper chamber, however, said it may consider recalling her if she submits a written apology.

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan alleged that she was being persecuted for accusing the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, of sexual harassment.

Mr Akpabio has denied the allegations though the Kogi senator has maintained her claims.

She initially submitted a sexual harassment petition against Mr Akpabio to the Senate but it was rejected on the basis that a sitting senator cannot sign a petition.

Days later, another petition signed by one Zubairu Yakubu, who described himself as a concerned Nigerian citizen from j Central Senatorial District, accused Mr Akpabio of harassing Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan sexually. It also accused him of abuse of office and obstruction of legislative duties.

On 11 March, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan externalised her case by taking it to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) at the United Nations headquarters in New York.

She told the IPU at the meeting that her suspension was unlawful and an attempt to silence her for making allegations of sexual harassment against Mr Akpabio.

Earlier in the month, PREMIUM TIMES reported that some Kogi Central constituents condemned Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension from the upper chamber.

The constituents expressed displeasure with the possibility of not being represented in the Senate for six months.

Past failed processes

Recalling legislators is one of the rights conferred on of members of senatorial districts and constituencies to hold them accountable.

However, there has not been a single case of successful recall since 1999 when democracy was restored in the country.

No fewer than six attempts to recall federal lawmakers have failed in the last 26 years of the nation’s democracy.

In 2016, some constituents in Borno South Senatorial District attempted to recall their senator, Ali Ndume, citing poor representation and insensitivity to their plight. It did not, however, succeed because it was resisted by the senator’s loyalists. Subsequently, the matter died naturally.

In 2018, the attempt to recall former senator for Kogi West, Dino Melaye, failed following a low turnout for the verification of signatures of petitioners.

At the end of the exercise, only 18,742 out of 189,870 signatories to the recall petition at the time could be verified by the commission hence the process could not continue.

There were moves to also recall other lawmakers, including Farouk Lawan, Abdulmumin Jibrin, Datti Mohammed, and Chris Ngige, but all did not advance for one reason or the other.