Dino Melaye: INEC serves Senator with recall notice at his office

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has served Senator Dino Melaye with a notice in regard to the ongoing recall process against him by his constituents.

Officials of the electoral body delivered the recall notice to the office of the representative of the Kogi West senatorial district as members of the National Assembly resumed from recess on Tuesday, September 26, 2017.

The issuance of the notice is in accordance with Justice Nnamdi Dimgba's directive to the commission to serve the lawmaker with the petition, the full list and signatures of constituents in support of the process.

This was after the Kogi lawmaker had filed for an injunction against the commission conducting the recall process against him after a total of 188,580 electorates in his constituency petitioned for his withdrawal from the National Assembly.

On Monday, September 25, the lawmaker denied that he had been avoiding getting served the notice because according to the constitution, the recall process is now void.

According to him, the window provided by the 1999 Constitution (as amended) for the service of recall petition had elapsed as it wasn't conducted within 90 days of receipt of the petition.

He said, "It is clear that by the provisions of Section 69(b) of the 1999 Constitution, INEC must act on the petition purportedly presented to it on June 23, 2017 by conducting a referendum within 90 days of receipt of the petition.

"The 90 days period as provided for in the Constitution for conducting the referendum after our verification, elapsed on Sept. 23, 2017.

"The time having elapsed, I cannot under the circumstance, aid and abet INEC to further infringe on the provisions of the Constitution, which I have sworn to defend."

In INEC's original timetable for the verification process of the recall, it was supposed to kick off on July 10 with the notice of verification, and conclude with the declaration of the outcome of verification by August 19.

After the court's dismissal of Melaye's suit which had stalled the process, INEC released an amended timetable with the verification process scheduled to be conducted on October 14.