…As Efforts to recall Kogi West Senator fail***
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Sunday commended constituents in Kogi West Senatorial District for resisting the move to recall Sen. Dino Melaye from the senate.
The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan indicated this in Lokoja on Sunday, praising the Okun speaking Yoruba people of Kogi West where he also comes from, for humbling powerful individuals who thought they were greater than the collective will of the people.
Dino Melaye, the senator to be plotted to be recalled also on Sunday thanked the people, after the bid to recall him hit the rocks, as only 5.34 per cent of the total 188,500 signatories to his recall petition were verified in an exercise held on Saturday. The result of the verification released early Sunday in Lokoja by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed that 39,285 of the signatories were verified, out of which only 18,762 signatures were genuine.
Indicated Ologbondiyan as he commended them: “I thank Kogi Westerners who spit on the face of arrogance of power and told those in power that there is more to life than bandying cash.
“I commend our leaders, who, setting aside personal rancour, worked in our collective desire to reject neo-colonialism,” he said.
The PDP spokesman also thanked indigenes of Kogi West abroad for their “encouragement to resist an attempt to disgrace our race.”
The summary of the petitioners’ signatures verification conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday in 552 polling units in Kogi West Senatorial District shows that the recall attempt failed woefully; as 189, 870 out of the total 351,146 registered voters in the district had on June 24, 2017 submitted a petition to the INEC headquarters for the recall of Melaye. At the end, only 20,868 of the petitioners presented themselves for verification while 18,742 were actually verified by INEC, amounting to just 5.34 per cent of the 51 per cent required for the petition to sail through.
The petitioners were led by one Cornelius Olowo from Ijumu Local Government area of the state where Melaye ironically also hailed from.
The result of the verification released early Sunday in Lokoja by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed that 39,285 of the signatories were verified, out of which only 18,762 signatures were genuine.
The genuine signatories represent a dismal 5.34 per cent of the total signatories to the petition, which fell short of 51 per cent or 98, 364 signatures required for the petition to sail through.
It was observed that the verification failed largely due to fictitious and forged signatures and names of dead persons affixed to the recall petition by its promoters.
The Kogi West senatorial district had on June 24, 2017 submitted a petition to recall Melaye to the headquarters of the INEC in Abuja.
However, the INEC’s presiding officer for the verification exercise , Prof. Okente Morthy of the university of Abuja said that the number of signatures verified fell short of the number required.
He consequently gave the breakdown of the results of the verification exercise which took place in 552 polling units in seven local government areas in Kogi West senatorial district .
According to him, in Kogi Local Government with 46,727 registered voters and a total number of 24,459 signatures to the petition , only 2,335 were verified out of 2,566 signatures recorded during verification.
He said that at Kabba/Bunu Local Government with 59,319 registered voters and 27,910 petitioners , only 2,085 signatures were verified to be genuine out of 2,151 that came out for the exercise.
Also at Ijumu Local Government, with 46, 810 registered voters and 24, 389 petitioners, 2,664 were verified out of 2, 811, the returning officer announced.
According to Morthy, others are Yagba East, 35, 329 registered voters, 18, 229 petitioners while 3,506 were verified out of 3, 580 recorded at verification.
At Mopa-Amuro Local Government with 18, 350 and 9, 173, signatures, 710 were verified out of the 729 recorded
However, the Returning Officer, said that there was violence in six polling units at the Mopa town towards the end of the exercise, forcing the INEC to nullify the exercise in the affected wards.
At Yagba West which has 35, 506 registered voters and 19, 444 signatories, only 3,729 petitioners were verified out of the 4, 221 that turned up, the returning officer stated.
In Lokoja Local Government with 109,105 registered voters and 66,266 petitioners, INEC said that 3,763 were verified out of the 4, 810 recorded during the botched verification exercise.
