The Independent National Electoral Commission omits the Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha from the list of the senators-elect that will receive their certificates of return on Thursday.
Okorocha won in the February 23 Imo West senatorial election on the platform of the All Progressives Congress.
The Returning Officer for the election, Prof Francis Ibeawuchi, declared Okorocha as the winner of the poll, having polled 97,762 votes ahead of his closest rival, Mr Jones Onyereri of the Peoples Democratic Party, who had 68,117 votes.
However, both the PDP and the All Progressives Congress protested against the declaration of Okorocha as the winner of the election.
Ibeawuchi later claimed he was forced to declare Okorocha as the winner to save his life.
He said that he feared for his life and he was forced to announce the result of the poll, which he said was inconclusive, in favour of the governor.
He had said, “I was compelled to announce the result which was inconclusive. I’m a man of integrity and it is not true that the governor slapped me but I was held hostage by agents working for him. I was manhandled and I thank God that I came back alive.”
The Chairman of INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, on Thursday, said the commission would not issue a certificate of return to anyone declared the winner of any election under duress.
He said, “The commission will not tolerate the act of holding our officials hostage and forcing them to declare winners under duress.”
Meanwhile, the commission is to hold supplementary elections in seven districts.
They are Abia South, Imo North, Kogi East, Ondo South, Rivers East and West.
