Imo State governor and Imo West senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the last National Assembly elections, Rochas Okorocha, says the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lacks the power to withhold his certificate of return or reverse his election victory after being declared winner of the Imo West senatorial election.
Okorocha, who filed a petition at the INEC’s Headquarters said the commission must as a matter of urgency release his certificate of return to him.
INEC had refused to issue a certificate of return to Okorocha despite being announced the winner of the election because the Returning Officer for the election, Professor Francis Ibeawuchi, said the declaration of Okorocha as winner of the election was made under duress.
But the governor, in his petition, said if there were issues with the election after the announcement of a winner, recourse ought to be made to the election tribunals not INEC holding on to the certificate of return.