Process to recall Dino Melaye from senate gathers pace as Inec posts notices at its Lokoja office

KOGI West's Senator Dino Melaye's battle against being recalled from the senate intensified yesterday after the Independent National Electoral Commission (Inec) published the notice of verification to begin the recall process.

Over recent weeks, Senator Melaye has become the subject of a recall attempt, as his political opponents have been gathering signatures to effect his recall from the senate. So far, it is reported that 188,588 signatures have been gathered but the senator has dismissed the move as a plot by his opponents led by Kogi State governor Yahya Bello.

Inec has officially notified senator Melaye of the recall notice and he in turn has gone to court, seeking to annul the process. Yesterday, Inec posted the notice of verification on the walls of its local government area office in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital, for the electorate to see.

In the notice, dated July 10, 2017 and signed by Inec chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the commission fixed August 19 for the verification exercise. It read: “In accordance with Section 69 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended), notice is hereby given that the verification for the recall of the member representing Kogi West Senatorial District shall hold on August 19, 2017.”

In addition, Inec specified that the verification to recall the senator would hold between 8 am and 2 pm on the said date in the senatorial district. One senior Inec official  said the notice did not mean Senator Melaye’s recall was concluded.

He added: “Pasting the verification notice is just the first leg of the process which cannot hurt Melaye in any way. Even the process does not amount to removing the senator.”

Meanwhile, Inec said that it had been served with an order of a Federal High Court, Abuja, which asked the commission and Senator Melaye to maintain status quo in the suit the lawmaker filed to challenge his recall process. Inec spokesman Rotimi Oyekanmi, told said its legal services department was studying the order, adding that it would form the basis of its position on the matter.

Mr Oyekanmi added, “I was told this morning that the court papers have arrived at the legal services department, so the response would be forwarded to the commission for determination. The legal department is studying it and it will make a recommendation on it, so the exercise cannot be halted and continues until the commission says so."