To ensure transparency and due process, stakeholders in Nigeria’s democratic experiment have called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to make available the Certified True Copy of the petition to recall Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan (Peoples Democratic Party, Kogi Central) to her before considering a second.

Having thrown out the first petition to recall the Kogi senator for failing the constitutional requirements, another petition is purportedly being prepared.

In a letter signed by the Executive Director of #FixPolitics Africa, Anthony Ubani, and Executive Director of Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, Dr Abiola Akiyode-Afolabi, the stakeholders urged the commission to ensure that Akpoti-Uduaghan “has received the CTC of the first petition before the commission receives a second one.”

Other groups that joined their voices in the call are Transition Monitoring Group and Enough is Enough Nigeria.

The letter read, “We understand that Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan has requested the CTC of the recall petition your office received against her. Also, following the commission’s announcement that the petition did not meet the threshold, the petitioners are in the process of collecting additional signatures and plan to resubmit the petition.

“We understand that the allegations of forged signatures can only be investigated by the police and the true nature of support for the recall process will only become apparent if the commission goes to the field for verification.”

They, therefore, requested the commission to ensure that it followed the letter and spirit of the law by ensuring that the senator received the CTC of the first petition before accepting a fresh one.

Findings from investigations show that Akpoti-Uduaghan had made a formal request for the CTC and paid the necessary fees for it but INEC, at the time of filing this report, had not released the CTC to her.