Nigeria’s Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has formally notified Senate President Godswill Akpabio and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan of a petition filed by constituents in Kogi Central seeking her recall from office, citing alleged gross misconduct and a vote of no confidence.
In a statement issued Wednesday, INEC said it had received updated documentation from the petitioners, including contact information required under Nigerian election law, allowing the agency to proceed with the next phase of the recall process.
“The contact address of representatives of the petitioners, their telephone numbers, and email addresses have now been provided in a letter dated March 26, 2025,” said Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education.
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A formal notice has been delivered to Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, and the same has been copied to the presiding officer of the Senate, as well as published on INEC’s official website, Olumekun confirmed.
Under Nigerian law, the recall of a sitting senator requires the endorsement of more than 50 percent of registered voters in the affected constituency. INEC will now review the signatures submitted by petitioners to determine whether this threshold has been met.
If the commission verifies the petition, the process advances to a referendum. For the recall to be successful, more than half of all registered voters in the Kogi Central district must vote in favor of removal.
Recalling an elected federal lawmaker in Nigeria is permitted under Section 69 of the 1999 Constitution, but the process is intentionally stringent and politically fraught. In practice, no Nigerian senator has ever been successfully recalled.
The most prominent attempt came in 2017, when constituents of then-Senator Dino Melaye of Kogi West submitted a recall petition. While INEC verified the signatures and initiated referendum proceedings, the process was ultimately stalled and derailed by legal challenges mounted by Melaye’s legal team.
Political analysts note that logistical hurdles, judicial delays, and high voter thresholds have made such recalls exceedingly difficult to carry out.
As of Wednesday evening, Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan had not publicly responded to the recall effort. A first-term senator elected in 2023 under the banner of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), she represents Kogi Central, a district in Nigeria’s North Central geopolitical zone.
INEC has emphasized its commitment to upholding due process and constitutional transparency as the process unfolds.
“The next step is scrutiny,” Olumekun said. “The Commission will determine whether the petition meets constitutional requirements before proceeding further.”
While the outcome remains uncertain, the move marks a significant political moment in Nigeria’s Fourth Republic — and a rare invocation of the electorate’s constitutional right to seek the removal of a sitting lawmaker.
