Hope Uzodinma: INEC reacts to Supreme Court judgement, says it will abide by the ruling
- INEC has reacted to the Supreme Court judgement on Imo governorship tussle
- The apex court had on Tuesday, January 14, sacked Emeka Ihedioha, as the governor of Imo state
- Festus Okoye, the INEC spokesman, said that the commission would issue a certificate of return to the governor-elect as soon as it receives the order from the court
Barely 24-hours after the Supreme Court sacked Emeka Ihedioha as the governor of Imo state, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has reacted to the judgement.
Premium Times reports that the INEC spokesperson, Festus Okoye, on Wednesday, January 15, said the commission is constitutionally and legally bound to give effect to the judgement and orders of the Supreme Court.
Legit.ng gathered that he noted that INEC would issue a certificate of return as soon it receives the order of the court.
He said: ”The judgement of the Supreme Court is final and the commission is not empowered to question or debate the propriety of the judgement or orders of the Supreme Court.
Source: UGC
”As a public institution, we are constitutionally and legally bound to give effect to the judgement and orders of the Supreme Court. The commission will give effect to the judgement of the court the moment we receive the enrolled order of the court and will issue the candidate the requisite Certificate of Return."
It would be recalled that in a unanimous judgment of the seven-member panel, read by Justice Kudirat Kekere-Ekun, the apex court agreed that results in 388 polling units were unlawfully excluded during the collation of the final governorship election result in Imo state.
Justice Kekere-Ekun said with the addition of the results from 388 polling units, Uzodinma polled a majority of the lawful votes and ought to have been declared the winner of the election by the INEC.
The judge did not provide the details of the new votes scored by each of the candidates after the addition of the results from the 388 polling units.
She voided and set aside the declaration of lhedioha as the winner of the 2019 governorship election in Imo state.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that Uzodinma issued an order directing banks to freeze all accounts belonging to the state government with effect from January 14, 2020.
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Jubilation as Supreme Court declares Uzodinma Imo state governor | - on Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
