The senator representing Kogi West at the National Assembly, Dino Melaye, has said he has not received any letter from the Independent National Electoral Commission on his planned recall by his constituents.
INEC had on Thursday said a letter has been sent to the embattled politician notifying him that it has received a petition for his recall.
“The Commission has formally acknowledged the receipt of the petition to the petitioners’ representatives and has conveyed a letter notifying Senator Melaye of our receipt of the petition,” INEC said in the statement.
However, Senator Melaye who reacted on his Twitter handle late on Thursday, said he was yet to receive any letter from the electoral body.
He also urged his supporters to remain calm and peaceful.
No letter from INEC yet. I urge all my supporters to remain calm & peaceful. God is on our side & light will always subdue darkness.
— Senator Dino Melaye (@dino_melaye) June 22, 2017
The constituents of Kogi West, led by Chief Cornelius Olowo, say that the move to recall Melaye was based on his “abysmal performance”.
Olowo also said that the lawmaker had been disconnected from the electorate since he was elected to represent the district in 2015.
“In the last two years, some senators have been meeting with their people quarterly. They update them on what has been happening and seek their contributions on issues and their aspirations to be presented at the senate.
“For the past two years, Senator Melaye has not organised one town hall meeting anywhere in Kogi West to meet with the people to present his scorecard or stewardship.
“He has been completely disconnected from the people. Since he won his election and the legal battle at the court, he is no longer reachable. “He has no constituency office in Kogi West as we speak, as a way to reach him on matter of interests from the people that elected him,” Olowo said.
He said that no fewer than 180,500 registered voters out of the 360,000 of them in the senatorial district had endorsed the recall of the senator.
The signatories represent about 52.3 per cent of the registered voters in the district.
Melaye is at daggers drawn with Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi and it is widely believed that the state chief executive is behind the move to recall him.
