“Natasha in Senate is an error we’re set to correct” – Constituents Insist

Thousands of Kogi Central constituents have unanimously thrown their weight behind the ongoing recall process for the suspended Senator representing the District in the National Assembly, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, stating that no amount of falsehood and propaganda could derail the exercise.

The constituents noted that it had become clear that her being in the Senate was an error, adding that they were determined to correct the mistake.

The over 10,000 constituents from the five council areas in the zone, under the platform of Kogi Central Grassroots Movement, spoke through a statement yesterday, signed by the Coordinator, AbdulHameed Jimoh, and Secretary, Mohammed Abdullahi.

They accused the camp of the embattled senator of fabricating videos and deliberately distorting information on the recall, insisting that she had come to the end of her stay at the upper legislative chamber.

The constituents advised Nigerians to ignore social media crusaders but to visit Kogi Central to see that “the embattled Senator is currently a paper-weight politician.”

Meanwhile, the embattled lawmaker has criticised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for not outrightly rejecting the petition seeking her recall, describing the commission’s response as an indication of bias.

INEC, in a statement on Tuesday, signed by its National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, confirmed receiving the petition, which reportedly contained signatures from more than half of the 474,554 registered voters in the senatorial district.

In response, Akpoti-Uduaghan, through her lawyer, Victor Giwa, in a letter dated March 26, accused INEC of compromising its neutrality by offering guidance to the petitioners instead of declaring the petition incompetent due to its procedural flaws.

According to a new statement yesterday, INEC said a letter containing the telephone numbers, email addresses, and other contact information of the petitioners’ representatives has been submitted to the commission’s Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu.

The statement further noted that by the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, the commission has also sent a formal notification to the Senator in question about the receipt of the petition.

The letter was delivered to her official address and has been shared with the presiding officer of the Senate.

Furthermore, it has been published on the INEC website for public access, National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun stated.