The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially acknowledged receiving a petition for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District.
In a statement released after its weekly meeting on Tuesday, March 25, 2025, INEC confirmed that the petition was submitted in line with the provisions of the law.
The commission emphasized that the recall process will follow the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022, and its Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, which provide a legal framework for handling such cases.
The petition, reportedly signed by over half of the 474,554 registered voters across 902 polling units in Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ogori/Magongo, Okehi, and Okene Local Government Areas, was submitted with six bags of documents.
However, INEC observed that the petitioners did not provide a clear contact address, email, or telephone numbers for all their representatives, except for one lead petitioner.
The commission emphasized that a recall is the exclusive right of voters in a constituency and will only proceed if the petition meets all legal requirements.
INEC assured that if the submission is properly completed, a verification process will commence at polling units, where signatories will be authenticated using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
Both the petitioners and the senator will be allowed to nominate agents to observe the process, while accredited media and observers will also be present.
In the meantime, INEC is making efforts to contact the petitioners to rectify the missing details.
The commission reassured Nigerians that it would adhere strictly to legal guidelines and urged the public to disregard any social media speculations regarding the recall process.
The full statement reads;
“The Commission held its regular weekly meeting today, Tuesday 25th March 2025. Among other issues, the meeting discussed the petition for the recall of the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District.”
“The process of recall is enshrined in the 1999 Constitution, the Electoral Act 2022 as well as the Commission’s detailed Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, available on our website. All petitions will be treated in strict compliance with the legal framework.”
“The petition from Kogi Central Senatorial District was accompanied by six bags of documents said to be signatures collected from over half of the 474,554 registered voters spread across 902 Polling Units in 57 Registration Areas (Wards) in the five Local Government Areas of Adavi, Ajaokuta, Ogori/Magongo, Okehi and Okene.”
“The Commission’s immediate observation is 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. The address given is “Okene, Kogi State”, which is not a definite location for contacting the petitioners. Only the telephone number of “the lead petitioner” is provided as against the numbers of all the other representatives of the petitioners.”
“The Commission wishes to reiterate that the recall of a legislator is the prerogative of registered voters in a constituency who sign a petition indicating loss of confidence in the legislator representing them.”
“Once the petition meets the requirements of submission, as contained in our regulations, the Commission shall commence the verification of the signatures in each Polling Unit in an open process restricted to registered voters that signed the petition only.”
“The petitioners and the member whose recall is sought shall be at liberty to nominate agents to observe the verification, while interested observers and the media will also be accredited. 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.”
“The Commission reassures the public that it will be guided by the legal framework for recall. The public should therefore discountenance any speculations and insinuations in the social media.”