The bid to recall Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, gained traction on Wednesday as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed that it has received the contact details of the petitioners spearheading the effort.
INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, announced that the commission has now obtained the required information, including house addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses, from the representatives of the petitioners to facilitate Natasha’s recall.
This follows an earlier hitch when the petition submitted on Monday in support of Natasha’s recall, lacked these essential details, according to INEC.
Pan-Atlantic Kompass had earlier reported that the electoral body raised concerns that the petition initially failed to comply with its Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
But while reacting to the updated submission, INEC has now formally notified Akpoti-Uduaghan of the recall petition.
The statement reads in part: “The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than half (over 50%) 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. We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent.”
The recall petition, titled “Constituents’ Petition for the Recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on the Grounds of Loss of Confidence,” was submitted to INEC’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday, March 24, 2025, by Charity Ijese, who said she was doing so on behalf of constituents from Kogi Central.
Accompanied by six bags of documents purportedly containing signatures from over 250,000 of the district’s 474,554 registered voters, Ijese accused Akpoti-Uduaghan of gross misconduct, abuse of office, and a “pattern of deceit.”
She further said the petitioners have demanded her immediate removal from office under Section 69 of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria (as amended) and INEC’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
