Melaye Begs Supreme Court To Stop Recall
Dino Melaye, senator representing Kogi west at the National Assembly, has filed an appeal at the supreme court to overturn an appeal Court judgement to resume his recall process from the Senate.
On Friday, the court of appeal, Abuja, asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to proceed with the senator’s recall.
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Melaye had approached the appellate court in a bid to stop the process after an Abuja Federal High Court in September 2017 gave INEC the go-ahead to begin his recall process.
In the latest judgement delivered on Friday, Justice Tunde Awotoye and two other judges ruled that there was no cause for action and the Federal High Court that adjudicated the case ought not to have entertained it in the first place.
The court ordered INEC to continue with the planned verification of 188,588 who reportedly signed petition for the recall.
According to the electoral act, one-half of the number of registered voters in a constituency is required for the recall of a lawmaker. There are 360,098 registered voters in Kogi west.
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But reacting to the appeal court ruling, Melaye disclosed that he is appealing the judgement at the Supreme court, urging his supporters to be relaxed.
“The judgement by the appeal court today is nothing to be bothered about. I urge my supporters to be relaxed as though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death yet I fear no evil. Every lie has an expiry date. We are appealing the judgement immediately,” Melaye tweeted.
The judgement by the appeal court today is nothing to be bothered about. I urge my supporters to be relaxed as though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death yet I fear no evil. Every lie has an expiry date. We are Appealing the judgement immediately
— Senator Dino Melaye (@dino_melaye) March 16, 2018
Trouble started for the senator when a total of 188,588 members of his constituents on June 23, 2017, signed a petition to recall him.
Following the petition, INEC issued a timetable and schedule of activities regarding the recall but the senator approached a Federal High Court to stop the process.
