Recalling Dino Melaye, the Senator representing Kogi West, is almost a Mission Impossible, a senior official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said. Over 52 per cent of registered voters have signed for Melaye’s recall for alleged poor representation and the signatures delivered to INEC headquarters in Abuja in six big bags.

That, however, appears to be the easy part, according to the INEC official, who properly explained the recall process in some Facebook posts.

He said in the first post while contributing to a debate on the issue: “It’s a herculean task for those behind the recall. The Commission will verify every signature contained in the recall document at the RA levels in the LGAs constituting the Senatorial District. They must meet 50% threshold of the total number of registered voters. They must be registered voters in their respective polling units. It’s good for democracy.”

Providing more details of the challenges ahead of those who want Melaye out of the Senate, the INEC top shot said: “The recall process is cumbersome. It’s not as easy as many people think. None had succeeded since the inception of the current Fourth Republic. The process that reached that of verifying the authenticity of the voters from the constituency of the lawmaker was that of the current Plateau State Governor, Barrister Lalong, the then Speaker of the State House of Assembly during the Governor Dariye’s tenure. The EFCC under the OBJ administration wanted him recalled, but the exercise failed at the verification stage. Mind you 50% of over 300,000 voters must vote yes or no for the recall to be successful, assuming all those who signed the recall petition pass through the signature verification stage. Both Melaye and the petitioners would be given the opportunity to witness the verification of the signature.”

Meanwhile, Melaye has sued INEC over the attempt to recall him.

The electoral body had sent a letter notifying the lawmaker of a petition for his recall, in accordance with its guidelines for the recall of members of the National Assembly.

To carry out the verification of the petitioners, INEC said it will on July 3, 2017 issue a public notice stating the day(s), time, location and other details for the verification.

Senator Melaye, however, approached the Federal High Court in Abuja on Friday, asking the court to declare the petition presented to INEC illegal, unlawful and unconstitutional.

In the suit, he sought a declaration that the recall process “is tainted with bad faith, political malice and personal vendetta”, alleging that the petition was signed by “fictitious and none existing persons” in his senatorial district.

Among other things, the senator requested for an order of injunction restraining INEC or its personnel from further continuing with the recall process.

He also asked for “an order of injunction restraining the defendant from conducting any referendum predicated on the fictitious petition allegedly submitted to it by the purported constituents of the plaintiff, on the basis of the fundamentally and legally flawed petition”.

Melaye further urged the court to determine whether the petition presented to INEC was in compliance with the requirements of the Nigerian Constitution.

Melaye equally asked the court to determine whether, by the provisions of Sections 68 and 69 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he can be vividly recalled when the petition was allegedly signed by persons who do not come from his senatorial constituency.

•Additional reports by Channels TV.

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