Lawyer Urges Nigerians To Recall Underperforming Senators, Reps

Lawyer Urges Nigerians To Recall Underperforming Senators, Reps

Nigerians have been advised to recall underperforming lawmakers in the Senate and House of Assembly.

Inibehe Effiong, a human rights lawyer, on Monday, said the process of recall, although cumbersome, is possible if Nigerians are not getting desired results from their lawmakers.

Inibehe Effiong

SaharaReporters Media

Speaking on the process of legally recalling a lawmaker, he said, "On the procedure for recall of lawmakers at the National Assembly, Section 59 of the constitution is clear about that;

"First and foremost, there has to be a petition in that regard signed by more than half of the persons who are registered to vote in the constituency stating their loss of confidence in that lawmaker. 

“More than half of members in that constituency have to sign that petition. Upon receipt of the petition, the electoral body, INEC, is expected to verify the signatures to ensure that they are registered members of the constituency.

"Once the verification has been done, INEC is required within 90 days of the date of receipt of the petition to hold a referendum. If it is approved, the petition is approved by a simple majority of votes of persons registered to vote in that lawmaker’s constituency, that is when a recall has taken place.

"It is the same process for the houses of assembly. The challenge with the process is that to obtain the needed number of signatures is very tasking and the process of verifying signatures is also cumbersome before a referendum is held but Nigerians need to know that there is a constitutional process under section 59 of the constitution and it applies to members of the National Assembly and Section 110 for state houses of assembly."

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SaharaReporters, New York



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Source: Lawyer Urges Nigerians To Recall Underperforming Senators, Reps