We stand by our declarations on Imo Supreme Court judgement- INEC
The Independent Nation Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday said it stands by its declarations for the 2019 elections despite the Supreme Court judgments that reversed some of the election results declared by the Commission.
The Commission has recently come under severe criticism following the reversal of the Imo State governorship election by the apex Court.
INEC, in the Imo governorship election, had declared the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Emeka Ihedioha winner with 273,404 votes while the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Hope Uzodinma who was returned by the Supreme Court as the authentic winner was placed fourth with 96,458 votes by INEC.
The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC National Chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, in a chat with The Nation stated that “once INEC makes a declaration, it stands by it”.
According to him: “The law provides for any aggrieved party or candidate to go to the Election Petitions Tribunal to contest a declared election result. Once INEC makes a declaration, it stands by it”.
Giving graphic detail of the conduct of the 2019 general elections, Oyekanmi, observed “a total of 807 post-election petitions were filed at the Tribunals after the 2019 general elections. Out of these, 582 were dismissed, 183 were withdrawn by the petitioners and 30 reruns were ordered.
“About 12 Certificates of Return have also been issued. When you consider the fact that elections were conducted into 1,558 constituencies for the 2019 general elections, you will agree with me that the overall elections have by far been credible, free and fair”. The Nation
