The Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday wrote to the Senator representing Kogi Central Senatorial District, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and the Presiding Officer of the Senate Godswill Akpabio, confirming that the contact details of the petitioners’ representatives in the recall process have now been corrected.
This followed an amendment made by the constituents of Kogi Central Senatorial District to address an earlier error in the recall petition.
In a statement issued, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, revealed that the updated contact information— including phone numbers, email addresses, and other details—was submitted to INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, today (Wednesday).
The update came after INEC had raised concerns in an earlier statement on Tuesday, which pointed out that the petitioners had initially failed to provide the necessary contact details, such as addresses and phone numbers, as required under the Commission’s 2024 Regulations and Guidelines for Recall.
As a result of the amendment, INEC confirmed that it had sent an official letter to Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan informing her of the receipt of the recall petition. The letter was delivered to her official address and copied to the presiding officer of the Senate. The updated details were also made publicly available on INEC’s website.
“Further to the statement issued yesterday, Tuesday 25th March 2025, the Commission hereby confirms that the contact address of representatives of the petitioners, their telephone numbers and e-mail addresses have now been provided in a letter addressed to the Chairman of the Commission dated today Wednesday 26th March 2025.
“As provided in Clause 2(a) of the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for Recall 2024, a letter has been written to notify the Senator sought to be recalled about the receipt of the petition and delivered to her official address.
“The same letter has been copied to the presiding officer of the Senate and published on the Commission’s website,” the statement read in part.
The statement noted that the next phase in the process would involve INEC verifying whether the petition has been endorsed by more than 50 percent of the registered voters in Kogi Central.
The outcome of this verification will determine the next steps in the recall procedure, which will be publicly disclosed in the coming days.
INEC assured the public that the entire process will be conducted transparently, with full adherence to the legal guidelines.
“The next step is to scrutinise the list of signatories submitted by the petitioners to ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50 percent) of the registered voters in the Constituency. This will be done in the coming days. The outcome, which will be made public, shall determine the next step to be taken by the Commission.
“We once again reassure Nigerians that the process will be open and transparent,” the statement concluded.
The petition, presented on behalf of the constituents by Charity Ijese, was received and stamped by INEC’s Secretary, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, on Monday at the Commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
The recall petition followed a series of contentious events involving Akpoti-Uduaghan, who was suspended from the Senate on March 6 for alleged “gross misconduct” after a dispute with Akpabio.
She had previously accused Akpabio of sexual harassment.
The constituents, who claim to have met the constitutional requirements for the recall process, stated that over 200,000 registered voters, more than half of the district’s electorate, signed the petition.
The petition, titled “Constituents’ Petition for the Recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan on Grounds of Loss of Confidence,” calls for the Senator’s removal due to a series of allegations, including gross misconduct, abuse of office, and a pattern of deceitful behavior.
In their petition, the constituents explained, “We, the undersigned, being duly registered voters of the Kogi Central Senatorial District, hereby invoke our rights under the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to formally demand the recall of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Nigerian Senate.”
Meanwhile, Ebonyi North Senator Onyekachi Nwebonyi has expressed no regrets over his heated exchange with former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili, during a hearing on a petition on Tuesday accusing the Senate President of sexual harassment.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ezekwesili appeared before the Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges, and Public Petitions, which was reviewing the petition filed by Akpoti-Uduaghan, alleging Akpabio’s sexual harassment.
Ezekwesili was accompanied by Zubairu Yakubu, who signed the petition on Akpoti-Uduaghan’s behalf, and the senator’s legal counsel, Abiola Akiyode.
During the hearing, Nwebonyi and Ezekwesili became involved in a heated verbal exchange. The incident began when Nwebonyi requested permission to make his submission if Ezekwesili’s team was not ready to proceed. Ezekwesili interrupted, telling the senator, “Can you shut up?”
In response, an irate Nwebonyi launched an attack on Ezekwesili, stating, “You will never be a senator” and calling her “an insult to womanhood.” He angrily questioned, “Why should you talk to a senator like that?”
Nwebonyi, who was representing the Senate President at the hearing, justified his reaction in an interview with Channels Television on Tuesday night, stating that he was simply responding to what he saw as disrespect.
“How can I regret the scenario? I gave it to her. Is it right for her to address me that way? As a former minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a grandmother, ask her first.
“I only replied to her. How can I be emotional? She was the one being emotional. It is unfortunate that a mother, a grandmother, the person of her standard can be so moved by her emotion to call a sitting senator a hooligan and I should shut up when I was asking for clarification from a presiding officer. I was not addressing her. I was talking to the chairman of the Senate Committee on Ethics, so I don’t have business with her,” he said.
Following the altercation, Ezekwesili defended her actions, stating in an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Wednesday that she was satisfied with the exchange.
She argued that the incident highlighted the challenges women face in a patriarchal society.
“I was very pleased with what happened yesterday because now it is in the public domain what women endure in many instances, and the rest of society may know a little about it but has not focused on it. It has now come to the top of our public agenda that we should not allow for a society that shuts down voices,” she remarked.
