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Natasha’s Lawyers Rewrite INEC Over Petition Seeking Senator’s Recall

Published

2 months ago

Mar 29, 2025.

Natasha’s Lawyers Rewrite INEC Over Petition Seeking Senator’s Recall

Natasha’s Lawyers Rewrite INEC Over Petition Seeking Senator’s Recall.
The legal team insists withholding documents violates her constitutional right to fairness.
INEC is given 24 hours to comply or face legal action.

The legal counsel for suspended Kogi Central Senator, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has once again written to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), demanding that the petition for her recall be officially served through the law firm J.S Okutepa SAN & Co., along with all supporting documents.

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EKO HOT BLOG reports that in a letter dated March 28, 2025, addressed to INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and signed by the Head of Litigation at J.S Okutepa SAN & Co., Adanu Emmanuel Ogwiji, the lawyer stressed that the demand aligns with Akpoti-Uduaghan’s right to a fair hearing as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.

According to Ogwiji, the legal team had previously written to the INEC chairman on March 24, 2025, making the same request, but no action has been taken despite the urgency of the matter.

Reiterating the demand, the lawyer insisted that INEC must serve the senator with the recall petition and its accompanying documents within 24 hours from the date of the latest letter, warning that failure to do so would amount to a violation of her constitutional rights.

Citing a legal precedent from the case of Senator Dino Melaye & 7 Ors. vs. INEC (Suit No. FHC/ABJ/CS/567/2017), Ogwiji emphasized the importance of transparency in public affairs. He argued that withholding the recall petition and its attachments from Akpoti-Uduaghan fosters suspicion and creates negative perceptions about the commission’s integrity.

The letter further outlined the legal position that for a recall process to proceed fairly, INEC must provide the affected individual with all necessary documents, including:

The recall petition
The schedule of signatures attached to the petition
The full list of persons who signed in support of the recall process

Ogwiji warned that if INEC failed to comply within the stipulated timeframe, the legal team would consider it a deliberate attempt to undermine Akpoti-Uduaghan’s fundamental rights. He urged the commission not to allow itself to be used in what he described as an act of sabotage against the senator’s constitutional rights.