Natasha: We’ve received contact addresses of petitioners — INEC

Barely 24 hours after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) faulted the petition submitted to push for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the Commission on Wednesday disclosed that the petitioners have since rectified the errors in the document.

Checks revealed that the Commission, in a statement on Tuesday, disclosed that “the representatives of the petitioners did not provide their contact address, telephone number(s), and e-mail address(es) in the covering letter forwarding the petition, through which they can be contacted, as provided in Clause 1(f) of our Regulations and Guidelines.”

However, in a fresh statement on Wednesday titled “Update on the Recall of the Senator Representing Kogi Central Senatorial District,” signed by the same Sam Olumekun, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information & Voter Education Committee, the electoral body stated that it can now confirm “that the contact address of the representatives of the petitioners, their telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses have now been provided in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Commission, dated Wednesday, 26th March 2025.”

ALSO READ: Natasha: Nigerian lawmakers whose constituents attempted to recall

The Commission further revealed that Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan has been formally notified of the move for her recall.

“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.”

It further disclosed that it would set machinery in motion “to scrutinize the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one-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.”