The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has written a senator, Dino Melaye, notifying him that it has received a petition for his recall.
PREMIUM TIMES reported the submission of the petition to INEC on Wednesday with over 188,000 eligible voters in Melaye’s Kogi West constituency signing for the recall.
In a statement by its spokesperson on Thursday, INEC confirmed it had received the petition and written the senator about it.
“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,” Mallam Haruna, an INEC National Commissioner said in the statement.
Melaye has condemned the recall move, saying it would fail and was being sponsored by Kogi State Governor Yahya Bello.
Although Melaye and Bello belong to the same party, APC, they are political foes.
In its statement, INEC also said it would publish, on July 3, details of verification process of all the signatories to the petition to confirm if they are indeed eligible voters in Melaye’s constituency.
Should Melaye’s recall succeed, he would be the first senator ever recalled in Nigeria’s history.
Below is the INEC statement
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) held its regular weekly meeting today and considered the petition submitted by some registered voters from Kogi West Senatorial District to kick-start the process of recalling Senator Dino Melaye.
In accordance with the INEC guidelines for the recall of members of the National Assembly, 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.
The next step is to verify that the petitioners are registered voters in the Kogi West Senatorial District.
INEC will, on the 3rd of July, 2017 issue a public notice stating the day(s), time, location and other details for the verification exercise.
