The current crisis rocking the political career of Senator Dino Melaye, took a new twist on Thursday, June 22 as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially acknowledged the receipt of a petition submitted to it by constituents of Kogi West Senatorial District seeking to recall the lawmaker from the Nigerian senate.
Recall that the process to recall senator Melaye from the Nigerian Senate, kicked off on Friday, June 9, in all the seven local government areas in Kogi West with hundreds of constituents queuing to sign the referendum.
According to the returning officer for the recall of the serving senator, Adamu Yusuf, out of 360,098 of the total registered voters of the seven western senatorial districts comprising Yagba, Mopa Muro, Kabba Bunu, Yagba East, Koton Karfe, Lokoja and Ijumu, 188, 588, signed the recall register constituting 52.3% of the voters in senatorial district.
On Wednesday, June 21, INEC received signatures from the electorates in Kogi West Senatorial District, demanding for the recall of Senator Melaye from the Nigerian Senate.
Six bags containing the signatures of 52.3 percent of the electorates from the zone and other petitions, were submitted to the Commission in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Confirming the development in a statement released at the end of its weekly meeting on Thursday, INEC disclosed that the move to recall Senator Melaye was part of the meeting’s agenda and that it had sent a letter to the senator.
The statement reads: “In accordance with the INEC guidelines for the recall of members of the National Assembly, 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.
“The next step is to verify that the petitioners are registered voters in the Kogi West Senatorial District,” read the statement
The statement added that the electoral body will on July 3, 2017 issue a public notice stating when the verification exercise would take place.
Meanwhile, Senator Melaye is representing Kogi West Senatorial District at the National Assembly under the platform of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
