Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha has disclosed that INEC does not have the power to seize his certificate of return.
Rochas Okorocha was the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the February 23 Imo West senatorial election.
In a recent petition to INEC, Rochas revealed that he was sad that the electoral body has decided to seize his certificate of return after winning the election.
He shared that going by the laws governing elections in the country, INEC were not doing what the law states by seizing it.
His words, “Section 285(1) of the 1999 Constitution states that ‘There shall be established for the Federation one or more election tribunals to be known as the National Assembly Elections Tribunal which shall, to the exclusion of any court or tribunal, have original jurisdiction to hear and determine petitions as to whether (a) any person has been validly elected as a member of the National Assembly.’
“Section 133 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) provides that ‘No election and return at an election under this Act shall be questioned in a manner other than by a petition complaining of an undue election or an undue return presented to the competent tribunal or court in accordance with the provisions of the constitution or of this Act, and in which the person elected or returned is joined as a party.’
“Where then did INEC derive the power to withhold a certificate of return after a winner in an election had been announced?”
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