The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has written a senator, Dino Melaye, notifying him that it has received a petition for his recall.
It would be recalled that the petition was submitted to INEC on Wednesday with over 188,000 eligible voters in Mr. 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.
Mr. Melaye has condemned the recall move, saying it would fail and was being sponsored by Kogi State Governor Yahya Bello.
Although Messrs. 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 Mr. Melaye’s constituency.
Should Mr. Melaye’s recall succeed, he would be the first senator ever recalled in Nigeria’s history.
