IMO PDP to INEC: Declare our candidate winner now
The People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Imo State has urged INEC to declare its candidate the winner of the December 5th conducted Imo North Senatorial by-election.
Addressing a press conference, the state Chairman Engr. Charles Ugwuh alongside the Party’s candidate Chief Emmanuel Okewulonu and members of his campaign council urged the electoral umpire to declare the party winner of the election having polled the highest number of legal/valid votes.
The Imo PDP based its calls to be declared winner on the fact that APC had gone into the election without having any candidate with respect to two separate judgements of two courts declaring the two warring candidates as unqualified to contest.
The Imo PDP said that the refusal of INEC to declare a political party winner without returning any candidate elected was a confirmation that the APC had no candidate for the election.
Recall that INEC had in the early hours of today announced the APC as the winner of the election without returning any candidate of the party elected – an action which has since sparked outrage and debate among legal analysts who have continued to raise eyebrows that such a practice was not permissible in law and inconsistent with the 2010 electoral act as amended which mandate that a political party must have a candidate going into any election.
They have since called on INEC to respect subsisting court judgments and honor the constitution as well as the electoral act by declaring the candidate of the PDP as the winner and return him elected.
Ambrose Nwaogwugwu.
December 06, 2020.
