The controversy surround the recall of Senator Dino Melaye representing Kogi west Senatorial district of Kogi state took a dramatic turn Tuesday
with the senator saying INEC can no longer recall him because the 90 days required by law for the exercise has lapsed.
The senator relied on section 69 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended which says that ” a member of the Senate or the House of Representatives may be recalled if there is presented to the chairman of INEC signed by more than one-half of persons registered to vote in that member’s constituency alleging their loss of confidence in that member with the signatures duly verified by INEC; and the petition thereafter; in a referendum conducted by INEC “within ninety days of the receipt of the petition”.
In his argument, Dino said the petition for his recall was received by INEC on June 23, 2017 and INEC was mandated to have concluded the whole process by September 23, 2017. This mandatory 90 days according to his investigation elapsed by effluxion of time.
Senator Dino said his recall was politically motivated and orchestrated by Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi state and Senator Smart Adeyemi, the man Dino took over from in 2015.
However, with the lapse of time, Dino said he was celebrating “the obituary of the made in Taiwan recall exercise”, while he sympathized with the petitioners, who he alleged were induced and threatened would obviously face forgery and other criminal charges in court soon.