The Independent National Electoral Commission(INEC) has announced that it has deleted the name of former Governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha, from the list of Senators-elect in the February 23rd National Assembly elections.
The commission cited that this move was necessary following the revelation by the Returning Officer for Imo State, Innocent Ibeabuchi, that he was held under duress to declare the result in favour of Okorocha.
The Chairman of the commission, Professor Yakubu Mahmood, said the commission will not issue certificates of return to any candidate declared winner of an election under duress
In his own word:
“I am confident that working together with the security agencies, we will consolidate on the largely peaceful conduct of the presidential and national assembly elections while also taking decisive steps to deal with the minority of violators intent on disrupting the conduct of peaceful elections,” he had said during a meeting in Abuja.
“However, the commission will not tolerate the act of holding our officials hostage and forcing them to declare winners under duress. Where such occurs, the commission will not reward bad behaviour by issuing them certificates of return.”
