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“He must be prosecuted and removed from office. The only one way forward”, an X user reacted to a video of a lawmaker, Alex Ikwechegh, tendering an apology for assaulting an e-hailing driver during delivery at his residence in Maitam, Abuja.
Ikwechegh is a member representing Aba North and South Federal Constituency, Abia State Nigeria.
The incident has stirred conversations around the power of citizens to remove elected lawmakers in Nigeria.
This process involves constituents, who must also be registered voters, to recall underperforming or erring lawmakers.
Constitutionally, constituents can recall any member of the National Assembly, House of Assembly of a State, and Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, following the process established by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
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According to Section 69 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), “A member of the Senate or of the House Representatives may be recalled as such a member if:
“(a) there is presented to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission a petition in that behalf signed by more than one-half of the persons registered to vote in that member’s constituency alleging their loss of confidence in that member and which signatures are duly verified by the Independent National Electoral Commission; and
“(b) the petition is thereafter, in a referendum conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission within ninety days of the date of receipt of the petition, approved by a simple majority of the votes of the persons registered to vote in that member’s constituency.”
Accordingly, INEC recently provided an 11-page document to guide constituents on the process of recalling elected lawmakers. The guidelines are grouped into four parts.
ROUNDCHECK explains the roles of citizens in a concise way to guide you in the process:
- Write a petition to INEC: Constituents who want to recall a lawmaker must write and present a petition to INEC through their representatives. The petition must be signed by half or one-half of the registered voters within the constituency (i.e. over 50%).
The petition must contain the following information, with the first three personal information arranged per the petitioners’ polling units: the names, Voter Identification Numbers (VIN), and signatures, as well as the names, contact addresses, phone numbers, and email addresses of the petitioners.
- Monitor INEC publication of notice: The constituents have the role of monitoring the publication of notice by INEC. This notice will inform the lawmaker of his or her constituents’ petition; it will also include the day, time, location, and other details for the verification of the petition.
- Availability for verification: The constituents must make themselves available for the verification process to be conducted by INEC which will take place at various polling units in the constituency, as stipulated in the notice.
On election day, petitioners must be present at designated polling units as the verification exercise shall commence at 8:30 am and end at 2:30 pm.
- Verification process: Aside from the information submitted to INEC, petitioners will be requested to present the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) for verification, which will be cross-checked with the Voter Identification Number (VIN). Afterward, INEC will use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machine for fingerprint or facial recognition, then the verified petitioners will be allowed to countersign/thumbprint against his/her name on the Register of Petitioners.
In a case where the identity or thumbprint does not match with the BVAS verification, petitioners will not be allowed to vote.
- Await result: It is important that constituents patiently wait behind for the verification, collation, and declaration of results by INEC officials.
Although the referendum process is straightforward in theory, its practicality has been in doubt.
The Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, a nongovernmental organisation that works to strengthen democratic governance and citizens’ participation in Nigeria, uphold this view as well.
“Although INEC has come up with Guidelines detailing the procedure for recall of elected legislators, it is unclear how this will achieve the removal of ineffective or failing legislators in practical terms,” the center pointed out.
However, constituents can follow through the process to keep lawmakers on their toes and also promote good governance in the country.
