The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed a petition seeking the recall of suspended Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the lawmaker representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, due to critical procedural shortcomings.
The decision, announced on Tuesday, brings temporary relief to the embattled senator, who has been at the centre of controversy following her six-month suspension from the Senate.
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 is 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.
However, INEC, in a statement issued by its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, declared that the petition failed to meet essential submission requirements.
Olumekun stated that the petitioners did not provide verifiable contact addresses, telephone numbers, or email addresses for all representatives, as mandated by Clause 1(f) of its recall guidelines.
According to him, the only contact detail provided was an address listed as “Okene, Kogi State” and a single telephone number belonging to the lead petitioner, Charity Ijese.
The statement reads in part: “The commission’s immediate observation is that the representatives of the petitioners did not provide their contact address, telephone number(s), and email address(es) in the covering letter forwarding the petition through which they can be contacted.
“Only the telephone number of ‘the lead petitioner’ is provided as against the numbers of all the other representatives of the petitioners.”
This omission, according to INEC, hampers its ability to proceed with the recall process, which requires clear communication channels with petitioners to verify signatures and coordinate subsequent steps.
This is the latest saga of Akpoti-Uduaghan’s tenure, which has been marred by controversy since her election.
The recall effort follows her suspension from the Senate on March 6, 2025, after a heated dispute with the President of the Senate, Senator Godswill Akpabio.
The Senate said Akpoti-Uduaghan was suspended due to allegations of “gross misconduct.”
