20 PARTIES RISE AGAINST IHEDIOHA IN IMO AS GOVERNOR-ELECT

Twenty political parties in Imo State have on Wednesday, demanded the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to withhold the Certificate of Return of the Imo state.

They stressed that the move is not geared towards opposing Emeka Ihedioha, the People Democratic Party, PDP candidate but towards fostering a strict adherence to the constitution. At a press conference in Owerri, the state capital, the governorship candidate of Masses Movement of Nigeria (MMN), Jerry Iheanacho, who spoke on behalf of others, said they had individually decided to challenge the outcome of the governorship election at the election Petitions Tribunal.

Iheanacho noted that the declaration of Ihedioha as the winner of the election was “a rape of our Constitution”. The governorship candidate said:

“It is not about Ihedioha but it is about what the Constitution says. From the results as announced by INEC, the PDP candidate didn’t meet the constitutional requirement to have been declared the governor elect. “He did not get the needed spread and we have decided to pursue this injustice up to the Supreme Court. “He did not get the required 25 percent of two-third of the LGAs.” Chinedu Ukadike of the Peoples Party of Nigeria (PPN) said the declaration of Ihedioha as the governor-elect was in contrast with the electoral guidelines presented to them by INEC. He vowed to petition the electoral umpire at the Tribunal even as he alleged that the declaration of a governor elect was done to undermine the constitution.