Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has expressed joy after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) dismissed the petition seeking her recall from the Senate.
Earlier on Thursday, INEC announced that the recall petition failed to meet the requirements of the 1999 Constitution, stating that the number of signatories fell short of the mandatory 50 percent of registered voters in Kogi Central.
Reacting on Facebook, Akpoti-Uduaghan described the development as a win for democracy and dedicated it to Nigerians.
“On God it’s victory for the people of 
. One battle down, two more to go,” she wrote.
“Deep gratitude to my beloved husband, awesome support team, magnificent people of Kogi Central and great people of Nigeria at large. INEC Nigeria, you did well.”
The recall attempt began on March 24, when some constituents submitted a petition to INEC, arguing that Kogi Central could not afford to lack representation in the Senate following Akpoti-Uduaghan’s suspension.
Charity Omole, one of the petitioners, had emphasised that their action was purely democratic.
“We have come to recall her so that we can have a representative in the Senate. We are here to tell INEC to please follow the constitutional process for a recall so that a recall process can begin,” Omole had said.
“We submitted the petition, and it has been received. All other documents have been received.
“We are the ones that voted her, and we don’t want her anymore because we cannot afford not to have a representative. Nobody is bankrolling us. Nobody is having any personal issue with her. It is just what it is. The game is the game.”
According to Omole, out of 488,000 registered voters in Kogi Central, over 250,000 signed the petition.
However, INEC’s decision has now put the recall effort to rest.
