Imo State Governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha is in the eye of the storm over the senatorial seat he was declared winner as the Returning Officer of that election has punctured his claim to victory.
The Returning Officer for the Imo West senatorial district election, Professor Ibeawuchi Innocent, said that he was forced to declare Governor Rochas Okorocha the winner of the election under duress.
Ibeawuchi made the revelation while announcing the results of the poll held in the district on Monday February 25th.
In his words, “I declared this thing before under duress. I’m still under duress declaring this one. That Okorocha Anayo Rochas of APC, having satisfied the requirements of the law, has scored the highest number of votes, is hereby declared the winner and returned elected.” he said.
The independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) umpire of the election, has, however, not looked into the claim to ascertain whether the returning officer actually acted under any form of duress.
According to the result announced by Ibeawuchi, Okorocha of the APC polled a total of 97,762 votes to defeat the PDP candidate, Jones Onyereri, who scored 68,117 votes.