By Alade Adisa
Tongues have started wagging over the claim that 250,000 voters have signed a petition to recall Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Senate.
The main question raised is how 250,000 people managed to endorse the petition within just five days.
Commenting on the development, political analyst Dr. Nnaemeka Onyeka Obiaraeri expressed doubt over the figure, questioning its feasibility.
“This would translate to 50,000 people signing per day, which further breaks down to about 35 people signing per minute—assuming signatures were collected continuously over 24 hours with no breaks,” he said.
He added that even the election that brought her into office recorded fewer than 120,000 total votes.
“She scored about 57,000 votes; her main rival got around 51,000, and a third candidate had barely 4,000,” Obiaraeri noted.
He warned against what he described as inordinate ambition aimed at silencing opposition and manipulating democratic processes to favor specific interests.
The petition was submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday.
Speculation is mounting that former Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello may be eyeing the senatorial seat, despite currently facing fraud charges running into billions of naira. Bello reportedly went into hiding for several months after the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) initiated investigations shortly after he left office.
Meanwhile, Justice Egwuatu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, has recused himself from the suit filed by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan against the Senate and the Senate President, which seeks to stop any move to suspend her from office.
At the continued hearing on Tuesday, the judge cited a petition filed by Senate President Godswill Akpabio as the reason for stepping down from the case.
