Recall of Lagos lawmaker Alli-Macaulay dies off after interventions

A campaign to recall a member of the Lagos House of Assembly has been terminated after interventions were made on her behalf, Pulse has learnt.

Constituents of Amuwo Odofin Constituency I initiated a recall process against Mojisola Alli-Macaulay in November 2020, after she made disparaging remarks about Nigerian youths in a viral video.

"They (Nigerian youths) are high on drugs all the time, most of them. They go to social media to do all sorts of things," she had said during a legislative deliberation on the youth-led nationwide protests against police brutality in October.

The Amuwo Odofin Stakeholders Consultative Forum (AOSCF) officially submitted a notice of petition to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to recall Alli-Macaulay alleging loss of confidence in her representation on eight grounds.

Six weeks after the submission of the petition and commencement of collation of signatures, Pulse has learnt that the process is as good as dead, even though organisers decline to say anything definite.

A source close to the issue said there was a division among interest groups in the constituency about whether the recall was the most appropriate way to check the lawmaker's alleged excesses.

Some of the influential figures in the groups said an apology and show of remorse from the lawmaker would be enough punishment, after she became public enemy number one on social media when the video was first posted by Pulse in October.

Pulse has now learnt that additional intervention by political actors and community stakeholders on behalf of Alli-Macaulay has prevailed on organisers to halt the recall process.

The source said the 43-year-old lawmaker has been given an ultimatum to address the issues raised in the recall petition.

"If she does not fulfill those conditions, the recall can resume," the source said.

The process to recall Nigerian lawmakers is notoriously difficult to pull off that no one has been successfully recalled in history.

Over 50% of registered voters in a constituency must sign a recall register and submit to INEC before the commission can kick off the process.

A verification of the signatures is done by INEC, and if the signatures are deemed to be authentic, a referendum is held in the constituency with a simple majority of constituents expected to vote Yes or No.

Contrary to the position of the organisers in November that well over 6,000 signatures had been collected for Alli-Macaulay's recall, another source told Pulse that the process was plagued by low turnout.

The source said the recall would not have been successful regardless of the interventions that were initiated on the lawmaker's behalf.

Alli-Macaulay has refused to address the issues since her viral video and rejected numerous requests for comments from Pulse.