REGISTERED voters in Kogi Central Senatorial District have formally petitioned the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recall their senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, from the Nigerian Senate.
The petition, submitted on Monday, cites “loss of confidence” in the senator due to allegations of “gross misconduct, abuse of office, evasion of due process, and a pattern of deceitful behavior.”
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of four women in the senate, was recently suspended for six months over her conduct in the red chamber. The embattled senator alleged that she is being punished for rejecting sexual advances from Senate President Godswill Akpabio.
In Nigeria, the process for recalling an elected legislator is a constitutional mechanism that allows constituents to withdraw their representative from office before the end of their term. This process is outlined in Sections 69 and 110 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and further detailed in the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) regulations.
To initiate a recall, more than 50% of the registered voters in the affected legislator’s constituency must sign a petition expressing their loss of confidence in the member.
This petition is then submitted to the INEC Chairman. Voters can obtain the total number of registered voters in their constituency by requesting a Certified True Copy (CTC) from the INEC state office.
Upon receiving the petition, INEC crosschecks it to confirm it has been signed by more than half of the total registered voters in that constituency and ensures it aligns with legal requirements.
If the petition meets these criteria, INEC issues a public notice detailing the verification exercise’s specifics. Verification is conducted at polling units within the constituency, where only the signatories participate. They must present their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) for authentication using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
If the verification exercise confirms that the petition is supported by the requisite number of voters, INEC proceeds to conduct a referendum. All registered voters in the constituency are eligible to participate, voting “YES” or “NO” on the recall. For the recall to be successful, more than 50% of registered voters must vote in favour. The entire recall process must be concluded within 90 days from the date INEC receives the petition.
A petition for Recall can be withdrawn at any time before the conduct of Verification provided that the withdrawal is endorsed by the representatives of the petitioners.
A local government chairman, governor and president cannot be recalled, they can only be impeached.
Once the recall process is successfully completed, INEC issues a Certificate of Recall to the presiding officer of the affected legislative house, either the Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, or Speaker of the State House of Assembly, depending on the recalled lawmaker’s position.
This formally removes the legislator from office, creating a vacancy in the constituency.
To fill this vacancy, INEC conducts a bye-election, allowing political parties and candidates, including the recalled lawmaker, to contest for the position.
Notably, there is no legal restriction preventing a recalled legislator from re-contesting in the bye-election. If the recalled member chooses to run and secures the majority vote, they can reclaim the seat through a fresh electoral mandate.
In the case of Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, Kogi Central has 461,096 voters, according to INEC. This means that 230,548 voters are needed to initiate her recall.
According to the representative of the petitioners, over 250,000 voters signed the petition submitted to INEC.
If the process is successful, the suspended senator’s seat will be declared vacant and INEC will conduct a bye-election in the senatorial district. She can, however, re-contest for the seat.
No lawmaker has ever been recalled in the history of Nigeria. In 2018, there was attempt to recall Dino Melaye, who represented Kogi West at the Senate then, but it failed.