Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of Kogi Central has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of showing partiality in handling a petition seeking her recall. She argued that the petition, which was submitted to INEC, should have been dismissed outright for failing to meet the required legal standards.
In a statement released on Tuesday, INEC confirmed receiving the petition, which reportedly includes signatures from more than half of the 474,554 registered voters in the senatorial district. The statement, signed by Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, noted that the petition lacked key details such as the contact addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of the petitioners. These details are mandatory under the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024.
However, Akpoti-Uduaghan, through her lawyer Victor Giwa, in a letter dated March 26, accused INEC of taking sides in the matter. She claimed that instead of dismissing the petition for its deficiencies, INEC was guiding the petitioners on how to correct their errors, which she believes compromises the commission’s neutrality.
The letter stated, “Your position as disclosed in your press release on March 25, 2025, signed by Sam Olumekun shows that the Commission has taken sides and has become partial in favour of the Petitioners in this case.”
The senator argued that the proper course of action for INEC was to declare the petition invalid and disregard it completely. She expressed concern that the commission’s decision to allow corrections suggested a level of favoritism toward those pushing for her recall.
She further pointed out that the addresses provided in the petition were all from Okene, Kogi State, raising doubts about whether the signatures truly represented voters from the entire senatorial district.
“Secondly, the address disclosed and provided in the petition according to your press release was Okene Kogi State, meaning that the two hundred and fifty signatories as contained in the petition came only from Okene, Kogi state, which seems more probable,” she stated.
Akpoti-Uduaghan insisted that INEC should act fairly by rejecting the petition, stating that its failure to do so could further erode public trust in the electoral process. She urged the commission to uphold due process and maintain its integrity.
“We still believe that the Commission will act rightly,” she concluded.
