The Independent National Electoral Commission in Kogi State on Wednesday announced dates for the commencement of the recall process of the embattled Senator representing Kogi West in the National Assembly, Dino Melaye.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Prof. James Apam, said following the appeal court ruling that INEC could commence the recall process, the commission had fixed April 28 as the verification date.
INEC also fixed May 5 as the day that a referendum would be conducted in line with the electoral laws.
Apam spoke at a stakeholders’ forum on Wednesday in Lokoja.
He said, “On this day, the commission will invite all those who have signed the recall register to come forward and identify their signature.”
According to him, if this process is successful, the commission will proceed to the next stage where a referendum of all registered voters will be conducted.
“Here, voters will be asked to vote either yes or no to the question of whether they want Senator Dino Melaye recalled or not.
“If those who say yes are able to meet the constitutional requirements of 51 per cent, the process will move to the next stage but if it fails, the process will stop,” Apam explained.
The appeal court had last week thrown out Melaye’s suit challenging the move to recall him.
But the embattled senator has vowed to proceed to the Supreme Court to challenge the decision.
On the continuous voter registration, Apam said that 210,000 permanent voter cards were ready for collection but expressed worry that their owners have refused to come forward to collect them.
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