By Noah Ocheni, Lokoja
The Kogi central Elites Forum, (KCEF) has condemned, in strong terms, insinuations that the recall process against the lawmaker representing Kogi Central in the National Assembly, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, was not endorsed by the majority of the electorate in the area.
The indigenes, from across the five local governments of Kogi Central, said they had resolved to bring the embattled Senator back home, adding that the embarassment she had caused the senatorial district had, unfortunately, taken an “international dimension.”
The Ebira Indigenes’ stand was in a statement on Thursday, jointly signed by the President and Secretary of the Kogi Central Elites Forum (KCEF), Alh. Ibrahim Abdulazeez Ibrahim and Prince Akerejola Johnson of Ogori/Magongo LGA, respectively.
The constituents told Nigerians to disregard the deliberate mischief by the camp of the Kogi Central Senator suggesting that people were deceived to come out for the recall exercise.
“No one is sponsoring this recall. Our people are largely united on this cause. From the history of Ebiras, you know we cannot be deceived. What she has done has been mainly propaganda. Even some of us that supported her on social media then are no longer with her. We cannot trade the integrity of the state and Nigeria for the selfish, juvenile tendencies of a Senator.”
“A matter as simple as not taking an assigned seat in the Senate should not be one that would warrant a “sexual harassment” national embarrassment of this nature, especially where all evidences point to blackmail. This is not who we are as Ebiras,” the statement said.
On the issue of INEC disclaiming the exercise, the constituents said the response was misconstrued.
“INEC has no official role until after this signature collection phase. We are the ones that are doing the recall, the petitioners. We have to ensure that the required threshold is met before formally presenting it for verification. This is where INEC comes in,” the indigenes noted.
They urged the public to disregard any mischievous interpretation of the recall process, saying politicians would always release statements based on their leanings and selfish interests.
“For us as Ebira people, we are determined to bring Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan back home. While she is at home, she may learn the rudiments of representing her constituents better.
“Ordinarily, we would never have allowed anyone to intimidate our daughter if she was on her right. But in this particular instance, she disrespected the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which has clear rules and went on to introduce slants that have never been heard of in the history of the Senate.
“We investigated and we know the truth. Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan should come home and learn the art of law making. It is not about content creation like many people have said,” the Kogi Central constituents said.
Recall that the National Assembly has been hit by allegations of sexual harassment against Senate President Godswill Akpabio after Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan refused to respect the Senate rules and was penalised.
