The recall process of the Senator
representing Kogi West senatorial district, Mr. Dino Melaye will be part of the
discussions on Thursday, when the management of the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC) meet to deliberate, it was learnt.
INEC management meets every
Thursday to deliberate and take decisions on issues that bothers on the
activities of the commission.
The commission may likely release
a revised timetable and schedule of activities in the next few days following
the removal of hurdles.
The Court of Appeal sitting in
Abuja had on Friday dismissed the appeal by the senator to halt his recall,
thereby removing any encumbrance to the process.
INEC had earlier issued time lag
for the process following a petition calling for his recall by before the legal
battle which started from the High court.
While resolving all issues for
determination against Melaye, the Appeal Court upheld the lower court ruling
that the senator’s suit was “hasty and premature and presumptuous”.
The Appeal Court therefore stated
that the lower court ought to have struck out the suit for not disclosing any
cause of action. On Melaye’s contention that he was not accorded fair hearing
by INEC, the Court of Appeal noted that such position was without basis because
INEC is neither a tribunal nor a court of law.
The Appeal court also noted that
the 90 days required for the recall process has not lapsed in the Melaye case.
It stated that the 90-day period was not static.
Speaking on the next line of
action of the Commission, the Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of the
Commission, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi said that the Appeal Court judgment has removed
any encumbrances.
Oyekanmi noted that the
commission will be taking decision on the matter soon as to when to continue
the recall process.
He posited that the Appeal
Court’s judgment has therefore given the commission the go ahead with the
recall process.
He said: “As it is now, the
Appeal Court has now removed any restriction. That means literally, INEC can
continue with that process. The process now will have to start from where it
stopped and that is the decision for the commission to make in the coming days.
“I don’t know how soon the
commission will take decision but I know it is going to be pretty soon. You
know every week; the commission meets every Thursday to take a decision. And of
course once a decision is taking there will be an official announcement. As it
is, the Appeal Court has removed any encumbrances against our moves. That is
what the situation is, that we can go ahead with our process.”
The embattled senator had earlier
lost the fight to stop INEC from commencing the recall process at the High
Court, thus paving way for the electoral body to continue the process.
The people of Kogi West
Senatorial District has made good their threat to recall Mr. Melaye on
Wednesday when they submitted signatures of about 188,588 voters from
electorates in Kogi West senatorial district demanding the recall of the
senator.
The signatories is about 52.3 per
cent of the registered voters in the district.
The law requires 50 per cent of
voters in an area sign to recall a lawmaker.
The signed documents, it was learnt were contained in six bags
alongside other documents and were submitted to INEC’s headquarters in Abuja on
Wednesday.
The local governments and the
percentage of voters who signed the recall petition showed that Yagba West had
the highest number of voters asking Melaye to return home from the Senate.
The breakdown, as shown in the
petition is Yagba West, 55.7 percent; Lokoja, 54.8 per cent ; Kogi, 52.77 per
cent; Yagba East, 52 per cent; Ijumu (Melaye’s local government), 51.8 per
cent; Mopa/Moro, 50.4 per cent and
Kabba/ Bunu, 46.7 per cent.
A prominent member of the All
Progressives Congress in Ijumu, Mr. Cornelius Olowo, who led the delegation,
insisted that the constituents were not satisfied with the quality of Melaye’s
representation.
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