• INEC receives petition seeking recall as court vacates order
• Group claims 250,000 voters signed petition
Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (PDP, Kogi West) has debunked reports that she apologised to the Senate over her sexual harassment allegations against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, calling it a desperate attempt to silence her.
At last, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), yesterday, received the petition seeking the recall of the Kogi West senator.
This was as a Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State, on March 20, vacated the ex parte injunction granted Akpoti-Uduaghan.
In a statement, yesterday, the senator condemned what she described as an orchestrated campaign to discredit her, vowing not to back down in her pursuit of justice.
She declared: “I stand firm in my resolve to never apologise for speaking my truth.
“The desperation to silence me is palpable, but I will not be intimidated. The games being played in full view of Nigerians will be exposed, and those who have hijacked our institutions will be held accountable.”
Her suspension from the Senate, she argued, is not just about her; but a blatant example of how the powerful suppress dissenting voices, especially those of women who dare to challenge the status quo.
Despite the political backlash, Akpoti-Uduaghan insisted she would continue to fight for justice and the rights of Nigerian women, urging the public to ignore the viral apology report, branding it false and manipulative.
SECRETARY to INEC, Rose Oriaran-Anthony, received the petition when a group of registered voters from the Kogi Central stormed the INEC headquarters in Abuja, yesterday.
The Federal High Court sitting in Lokoja, Kogi State, had, on Friday, set aside an earlier ruling that restrained INEC from receiving the recall process initiated by Kogi Central constituents against their senator.
The court, in a judgment delivered in Lokoja, affirmed that the recall process was constitutionally valid and aligned with the civic rights of the constituents.
It urged the constituents to continue exercising their rights in an orderly and peaceful manner.
Following the court judgment, the constituents stormed the headquarters of the commission in Abuja, where they demanded her immediate recall.
The constituents, in a petition dated March 21, 2025, and submitted to INEC said: “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 Sen Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan from the Nigerian Senate.
“By this petition, which we have made sure is signed by more than half of the registered voters in Kogi Central, we hereby demand that INEC immediately commences the constitutional and procedural process of recall to remove Akpoti-Uduaghan from office and declare her seat vacant.”
Addressing journalists after submitting the petition, the leader of the group, Charity Omole, said they who voted her in decided to recall her.
THE News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Justice Isa Dashen of the Federal High Court, who gave the order setting aside the injunction he granted, also ordered the acceleration of the case before him.
Dashen had, on Thursday, granted an interim injunction restraining INEC from receiving, accepting or acting on any petition containing signatures of members of Kogi Central.
The court also stopped INEC from conducting any referendum upon such petition for the purpose of initiating a recall process of Akpoti-Uduaghan as senator pending the determination of the motion on notice to the same effect.
But INEC, through its counsel, Abdullahi Aliyu (SAN), made an oral application for the setting aside of the ex parte injunction granted Akpoti-Uduaghan and for an accelerated hearing of the case.
Aliyu argued that the Federal High Court, by provisions of the Constitution, does not have the jurisdiction to stop a constitutional body like INEC from carrying out its constitutional function.
“I, hereby, make an oral application by virtue of the pronouncement made by the Court of Appeal in the case between EFCC v Bello for the interim injunction to be discharged.
Counsel to the applicants, West Idahosa (SAN), objected to the application for the vacation of the interim injunction granted to Akpoti-Uduaghan. He argued that when an illegality is raised by complainants as in the plaintiffs of the case, a constitutional duty could be restrained.
“This is because every rule has an exception. More so the Supreme Court reaffirmed that when a case of illegality is brought before a court, the court would first look at it to be sure it is true. The plaintiffs in this matter said there’s an illegality of forgery backed with a valid affidavit before this honourable court,” he said.
He, however, asked the court not to allow the application for vacation of the institution.
Justice Dashen, in his ruling, after listening to both parties, granted the application and vacated the interim order and ordered for the acceleration hearing of the case.
He adjourned the case till April 9, 2025, for hearing.
