Senator Melaye recall process will start today said INEC, Saturday, April 28 2018 as been set, INEC said Senator Melaye current health status cannot stall the recall process yet, however, advised Melaye to send agents to monitor the process if he could not be present The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared that Senator Dino Melaye’s current health status will not stall his recall process from the Senate.
The electoral commission said it will commence the recall process on, April 28, 2018 despite the fact that the admitted senator has been in the hospital for some days, Premium Times reports, Recall that thousands of constituents of Dino Melaye’s Kogi West had last year written to the INEC to demand the recall of the senator. Although the electoral commission tried to start the process as required by law, this was stopped by severe legal maneuverings of the senator.
The court of appeal, however gave INEC the autonomy to proceed with the recall. Consequently, INEC released a roasted for the process to commence on April 28. Melaye is in hospital right after he allegedly jumped off a police vehicle while being taken to Kogi where the police want to try him for criminal conspiracy and allegedly sponsoring criminals. Premium Times quoted Oluwole Uzzi, INEC’s director of voter education and publicity, to have said: “The process is continuing according to court order and the constitution. It has nothing to do with him being in prison or anywhere. It’s a process which must continue.” When asked whether Melaye would be able to monitor the recall process from his hospital bed, Uzzi said: “He can choose to have his agents present if he can’t be present.” The Kogi state INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, James Apam, in a press conference on Wednesday, April 25, in Lokoja also said that the commission had put all necessary modalities in place to ensure a hitch-free exercise. Melaye’s media aide, Gideon Ayodele, however, decried his principal’s latest ordeal on Friday, April 27, saying the acts of the police were orchestrated to keep the senator preoccupied amidst ongoing efforts to recall him. Ayodele claimed: “They planned everything. It was a plot to get him distracted and make it difficult for him to rally his base or verify signatures.” Today, Saturday, April 28, INEC would verify the signatures of the thousands who signed to recall the lawmaker. The results would be announced on Sunday, April 29. If the signatures are successfully verified to be positive, then INEC will fix a date for a referendum in Kogi West to remove the senator. Prominent civic groups like Enough is Enough (EIE) Nigeria have said they would monitor the recall process. The EIE recently launched “the citizen’s guide to the recall process” to educate Nigerians on how to constitutionally recall a lawmaker they are displeased with. Melaye, a key ally of Senate President Bukola Saraki, has blamed his travails on the Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello. Both men are members of Nigeria’s ruling party, APC, but are political adversaries. Governor Bello has, however, denied being responsible for the lawmaker’s travails. Should Melaye be successfully recalled, his would be the first successful recall of a federal lawmaker in Nigeria’s recent democratic experience.
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