Video: INEC Details Why Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan’s Recall Petition Didn’t Meet Legal Standards

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has provided clarity on why the recall petition against Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan failed to meet the required legal standards.

Naija News reported that INEC, in a statement on Thursday, rejected the recall process against the Kogi Central Senator who accused Senate President Godswill Akpabio of sexually harassing her.

According to INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Victoria Eta-Messi, the petition was canceled because it did not fulfill constitutional provisions.

Speaking with Arise News, Eta-Messi emphasized that INEC cannot base its decisions on social media claims.

She explained that the first step in any recall process is to verify whether the required number of signatures has been gathered. In this case, the petition fell short of the necessary threshold of 237,000 signatures

“So INEC cannot rely on what it sees on social media. The law clearly states the processes that need to be followed for a recall to be valid,” she stated.

Eta-Messi emphasized that INEC’s first step was to determine whether the petition met the necessary threshold of 237,000 signatures, regardless of whether they were forged or genuine.

“And so the first step that we took was to ascertain that they even met the threshold, that the signatures, whether forged or not, were up to the required number of 237,000 plus. And that was the stage where we were when we realized that they didn’t even have the 237,000 signatures.

“If they had met the threshold, that’s when the real verification would have been conducted. And so a notification would have been sent out to the member being recalled, to the presiding officer of the applicable house as well, and again to the public,” she explained.

Eta-Messi further highlighted the difficulty of completing a recall process, noting that all petition signatories must appear in person for verification using the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

“And then the commission would proceed to begin to make preparations to deployment and materials to the field for verification. And that is where the real work is because all those who signed the petition were expected to turn out to be verified and authenticated using the BVAS.

“And that is where the main work or task is. And that is why it has been difficult for us to successfully take a recall process to the end,” she added.

She stressed that even viral videos circulating on social media would not substitute for the legal process, as only those with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) could be authenticated.

“So even if we saw videos on social media during the verification process, all of those people would have to turn out with their PVCs to be verified and authenticated. And it is only at that point that we would be able to proceed to the next level,” Eta-Messi concluded.

See video below: