The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released the revised regulations and guidelines for the recall of members of the National and State Assemblies as well as councillors in the area councils of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun who disclosed in a statement on Thursday, said this followed the approval during the commission’s meeting on the same day.
According to him, INEC has in the last few weeks, received a number of requests from different groups across the country for the recall of their representatives in the National and State Houses of Assembly.
Olumekun said some of the constituents have even requested the electoral umpire to initiate the process of the recall on their behalf.
He said, “For clarity, the process is initiated by the voters in a constituency. The Commission only implements their request in line with Sections 69, 110 and 160 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and Sections 2(c) and 113 of the Electoral Act, 2022.
“Accordingly, the Commission has reviewed the regulations and guidelines, providing a detailed procedure for recall. The 10-page document has been uploaded to our website and social media platforms for the guidance of prospective petitioners and for public information.”
The INEC chief spokesperson appealed to constituents interested in the recall of their elected representatives to be guided by the provisions in preparing and submitting their petitions to the Commission.
In the 10-page document sighted by correspondent, the procedure involves presentation of petition to the INEC Chairman by representative(s) of the petitioners and signed by more than one half of the persons (that is, at least one person above half) registered to vote in the constituency of the member sought to be recalled, alleging loss of confidence in that member.
Then comes the publication of notice in which the commission shall upon receipt of the petition: “(a) Notify the member sought to be recalled, in writing, of the receipt of the petition. Such notification shall be delivered to his/her official address, copied the presiding officer of the applicable legislature and published on the Commission’s website.
“(b) Ascertain that the petition is signed by more than one half (over 50%) of the registered voters in the member’s constituency. The list of signatories to the petition shall constitute the Register of Petitioners (Form EC41) for the purpose of any activity in this Regulation and Guidelines.”
The next step will be location for verification as the exercise shall be carried out in the Polling Units at the constituency of the member sought to be recalled and the Commission shall appoint Verification Officers (VOs) as is the case with other types of elections under the supervision of an Electoral Officer, Assistant Electoral Officer or any other officer designated by the commission.
A member sought to be recalled may appoint Agents, who must be registered voters in the constituency, for each poling unit and collation centre in his/her constituency while the verification of signatures/thumbprints of the petitioners for the recall shall be carried out at the Polling Units using the Register of Petitioners (Form EC 41) and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).
“On the day appointed, the verification exercise shall commence at 8:30am and end at 2:30pm at the Polling Units, provided that all petitioners already on the queue by 2.30pm shall be allowed to be verified. The Commission may extend the period of verification in line with its existing Regulations, Guidelines and Procedures.
“Close of verification- when all the petitioners on the queue have been verified, the designated Verification Officer shall: (a)Obtain the number of verified petitioners from the BVAS, count the number of verified petitioners as ticked and countersigned/thumb printed on the Register of Petitioners (Form EC 41)…,” the regulations and guidelines stipulated.
According to the provision, there shall be collation of verification at the Registration Area /Ward, at the local government area level and declaration of verification.
They also provide for the conduct of referendum in which INEC shall, “(a)Decline to conduct a referendum for the recall of the member if the result of the verification shows that not more than one half of the persons registered to vote in that member’s Constituency (that is, at least one person above one half) endorsed the petition.
“(b) Where half of the number of registered voters is not a whole number, the next whole number shall be regarded as one half of the registered voters. (c)Conduct a referendum for the recall of the member where it has verified that more than one half of the persons registered to vote in that member’s Constituency have endorsed the petition, which shall take place not later than 90 days from the date of receipt of the petition for recall.”
The guidelines amongst others, stated that a person shall be qualified to vote at a Referendum for recall if he/she is registered as a voter in the constituency and is verified after presenting his/her PVC to the designated Referendum Officer at the Polling Unit on the day of the referendum.
They provided that voting at a Referendum for recall shall be by Open Secret Ballot and in accordance with the procedure specified in the Commission’s Regulations and Guidelines for the conduct of Elections in force at the time of the referendum.
The regulations and guidelines stipulated that, “Notwithstanding the provisions for collation, the Commission may designate or re-designate Collation Centres for the purposes of a referendum as it deems fit provided that the re-designation shall be within the constituency in question as is the case with regular election.
“Notwithstanding the provisions of these regulations and guidelines, the power to control and supervise a referendum for recall of a members of legislative houses or Area Councils in the FCT shall be vested in the Commission and any rules, regulations, circulars, directives and instructions given by the Commission regarding the exercise shall be binding on all persons concerned.”