INEC continues with Melaye’s recall process despite court ruling

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has pasted the notice of verification for the recall of Dino Melaye, lawmaker representing Kogi west senatorial district.

In the notice pasted at the commission’s office in Lokoja, capital of Kogi state, on Monday, INEC said the verification would hold across all polling units in the senatorial district, on August 19.

On Friday, John Tsoho, justice of a federal high court in Abuja, had asked INEC and the lawmaker to maintain “status quo” pending the hearing of a motion filed by Melaye to seek an interlocutory injunction.

WHAT IS STATUS QUO?

• Status quo is the existing state of affairs, especially regarding social or political issues.

Tsoho then fixed September 29 for the hearing of the motion.

WHAT IS AN INTERLOCUTORY INJUNCTION?

• An interlocutory injunction is a court order to compel or prevent a party from doing certain acts pending the final determination of the case.
• It is an order made at an interim stage during a trial and is usually issued to maintain the status quo until judgment can be made.

Melaye has accused Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi, of masterminding the bid to eject him from the upper legislative chamber, an allegation the governor denied.

A total of 188,588 registered voters in Kogi west signed the petition for Melaye’s 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 and 188,588 represents a little more than one-half required.

The next step after the verification is the conduct of a referendum but INEC said the outcome of the verification exercise would determine if that would happen.