The Senator representing Kogi Central, Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, has insisted that the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, initiated her recall process using fake constituents.

On Tuesday, supporters from Kogi Central’s five local government areas gathered early in Ihima, Okehi LGA, to welcome the PDP lawmaker.

Natasha received a rousing welcome from supporters despite a government ban on rallies and processions.

However, the Senator in a statement issued Wednesday challenged Bello to tell the world where he manufactured the names of those fake constituents calling for her recall.

She noted: “All available evidence and facts point directly to Bello as the mastermind behind the recall move.”

Akpoti-Uduaghan cited Bello’s past actions before and during the 2023 general election when he was accused of orchestrating multiple attacks against her, then a candidate.

The senator described the recall attempt as a continuation of Bello’s political vendetta against her person.

She added: “I will advise the former governor to rather focus on clearing his name over allegations of fraudulent diversion of N89.2 billion, instead of attempting to destabilize the mandate given to me by the people of Kogi Central.

“The former governor’s hands are already full with corruption allegations, yet he is still bent on frustrating the will of the people.

“His actions before and during the last general elections, where he sponsored numerous attacks against me, are well documented.

This recall attempt is nothing but another ploy to undermine the people’s will,” “It is now very clear to the whole world how popular I am in my constituency. The powers that be did try to suppress the will of the people but my people emphatically said no. No to injustice, no to exploitation of women, no to fake recall, no to Yahaya Bello and his allies.

“They (My people) came out en masse to resist government intimidation. We thank them for the massive show of love. We also thank our oppressors because their actions have now made them more unpopular while we gained more support.

“As more me, I will do more for my people. I will not betray them. I will continue to give my best and they should be rest- assured of our best representation all the time,” the Senator said.

Governor Monday Okpebholo and the All Progressives Congress, APC, have won round one in the series of petitions challenging their declaration as winners of the September 21, 2024, governorship election in Edo State.

A petition instituted against them by the Action Alliance (AA) and one Adekunle Rufai Omoaje was thrown out by the Edo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal for lacking merit and being frivolous.

In the first judgment of the Tribunal on Wednesday, it was held that Adekunle Rufai Omoaje, who filed the joint petition, had no locus standi to institute the case, as his petition was not based on election-related matters.

Among other points, the Tribunal held that Omoaje did not participate in the governorship election and, as such, had no power to question the validity of the election.

The Tribunal also held that Omoaje’s grievance against the election was that he was not recognized as the National Chairman of the Action Alliance for the purpose of nominating candidates for the poll. However, it was held that his claims had no basis in the Electoral Act of 2022.

Omoaje had, in the petition, asked the Tribunal to declare the declaration of Okpebholo and APC as winners of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as illegal, unlawful, unconditional, and null and void due to non-compliance with the Electoral Act.

He also alleged corruption and that Okpebholo and APC did not win the majority of lawful votes in the election.

Omoaje further alleged that AA was not allowed to nominate a lawful governorship candidate for the election, having not signed the nomination form as the National Chairman of the party.

INEC had declared Okpebholo of the APC as the winner with 291,667 votes, defeating his closest rival, Asue Ighodalo of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who polled 247,655 votes in the election.

Details later….

A new political association, Team New Nigeria (TNN), has announced its bid for registration as a political party with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after fulfilling all required conditions.

The electoral body had recently confirmed that it has received 91 applications for the registration of new political parties.

In a statement issued in Kaduna by TNN spokesman, Mohammed Adah Shaibu, the group confirmed that its National Executive Committee (NEC) and Board of Trustees (BoT) had unanimously adopted a logo, slogan, motto, and acronym for the proposed party

.With this milestone achievement, the journey to the New Nigeria of our collective dreams has just commenced,” the statement read. “The acronym is TNN, the slogan is ‘Greater Nigeria,’ and the motto is ‘Unite and Rebuild the Nation.’”TNN also announced that its constitution and manifesto would be officially launched in April 2025 at its National Conference in Abuja.

TNN president, Modibbo Yakubu Farakwai, affirmed that the group had painstakingly met all the registration requirements stipulated by INEC for the formation of a political party.

To advance its registration process, TNN had earlier inaugurated several key committees, including the Legal and Constitutional Compliance Committee, chaired by Professor Muhammad Zakari Yaro, and the Political Management Committee, led by Professor Silva Opuala-Charles.