Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan: INEC says recall election costlier than normal election

• No recall of a lawmaker has been successful in Nigeria’s history.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is more expensive to conduct a recall election than a constituency election.

This implies that the commission may spend more money to complete the recall process of the embattled Kogi senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, than was spent conducting her election, whether or not the recall is successful.

The Special Adviser to the INEC Chairman, Mohammed Kunna, made the statement on the high cost of a recall process during an online discussion on “INEC Regulation and Guidelines for Recall 2024.” The discussion also covered BVAS and IREV: Facts and Myths.

At the event, held on Saturday on X, Mr Kunna explained that conducting a recall election was similar to conducting three constituency elections, the News Agency of Nigeria reported.

“Once a petition is received and verified to meet legal requirements, INEC must first conduct a verification exercise at the affected polling units.

“For that verification to happen, we have to use the Bi-Modal Voter Verification System (BVAS) because those who signed the petition must be verified as genuine registered voters in those units.

“Then, INEC needs to establish 50 per cent plus one signature from the constituency.

“After that, we proceed to the final stage: conducting the referendum, which involves a yes or no vote by registered voters in the constituency,” Mr Kunna said.

He added that this process involved mobilising staff, deploying election materials, transportation, and other resources, much like conducting three senatorial district elections.

“In my opinion, the recall process is much more expensive than conducting a single senatorial district election,” he said.

The Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, acknowledged the high cost but emphasised that INEC must adhere to the law.

“What is important is what the law says we should do in each case if constituents wish to recall their representatives,” Mr Oyekanmi said.

Earlier, Mr Oyekanmi explained that INEC’s regulations and the Electoral Act specified the process for conducting a recall election.

“The law allows a recall election only if the petitioners meet constitutional requirements, including submitting signatures from at least half of the registered voters in the constituency.

“Once the petition is received, INEC performs a preliminary check and then verifies the signatures.

“The lawmaker facing recall is informed and has the right to deploy agents to observe the process.

“Observers and media personnel can also participate in the verification and referendum,” he said.

Mr Oyekanmi also addressed the possibility of online voting, stating that the Constitution did not permit INEC to conduct electronic voting.

INEC had earlier announced that it had begun the process of verifying the over 200,000 signatures on the petition to recall Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan.

The persons who submitted the petition claimed that all the signatories existed and were voters in Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s constituency.

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan and many observers have, however, raised concerns that many of the signatures were fake and that she enjoys the support of the majority of her over 400,000 constituents.

INEC, by law, will now have to conduct the verification process of the signatories as part of the recall process.

Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s ordeal began when she challenged the sitting arrangement for senators put in place by Senate President Godswill Akpabio.

The mode of her challenge of what was by Senate rules the role of the senate president put her in conflict with the majority of her colleagues in the Senate and the Senate committee on ethics recommended her suspension for it.

On the day she was to be suspended, Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan, on the floor of the Senate, raised an allegation of sexual harassment against Mr Akpabio, an allegation he has since denied.

Minutes after she raised her allegation, the Senate adopted the earlier resolution of its ethics committee and suspended her for six months. She was also barred from entering the Senate building during the suspension and her salaries and allowances were stopped for the period of the suspension.

The six-month suspension was issued despite previous court rulings that a lawmaker cannot be suspended for more than two weeks.

Following the controversy, some residents of Mrs Akpoti-Uduaghan’s constituency announced that they would recall the senator, who many believe enjoys the support of the majority of the residents of her constituency.

No recall of a lawmaker has been successful in Nigeria’s history.