Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo state has filed a suit at the Federal High court Abuja praying to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue him with a certificate of return as Senator-elect for Imo west senatorial District.
Okorocha, in a suit, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/296/2019, argued that INEC lacked the statutory power to withhold his Certificate of Return, insisting that he was overwhelmingly elected by his constituency members to occupy the senatorial seat.
He prayed that the court should declare that the electoral empire acted in error, when it failed to recognised him even as the returning officer declared him as the winner.
INEC was cited as the sole defendants in the suit he filed through his team of lawyers led by Mr. Kehinde Ogunwumiju, SAN.
Meanwhile, Justice Taiwo .O. Taiwo has fixed April 5 for the commencement of hearing on the matter, even as he okayed a joinder application which was filed by the senatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Jones Onyeriri and that of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Senator Osita Izunaso.
Both Onyeriri and Izunaso who were joined as interested parties in the case subsequently were listed as 2nd and 3rd defendants, respectively.
Earlier, INEC had declined to issue Certificate of Return to Okorocha who was the senatorial candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, when the returning officer alleged that he was compelled to declare Okorocha winner under duress.
Prof Francis Ibeawuchi, the Returning Officer for the election declared Okorocha as the winner of the election, having scored 97,762 votes ahead of his closest contender, Mr Jones Onyereri of the Peoples Democratic Party, who had 68,117 votes.
The returning officer claimed that he declared Okorocha as the winner to save his life and that of his family, insisting however that the election ought to have been declared inconclusive.
