Governor Rochas Okorocha has filed a suit before the Federal High Court in Abuja to compel the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to issue him a certificate of return as a senator-elect.
Leadership reports the governor who filed the suit through his counsel, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), on Tuesday, April 30, is seeking a court order compelling the electoral body INEC, to issue him a certificate of return as the validly elected senator for Imo west senatorial district.
However, some legal hitches introduced by some interested parties to the suit reportedly hampered the hearing in the suit.
Added to this, the judge who was assigned to adjudicate on the case, Justice Taiwo, withdrew from the case after the candidates of the PDP for the February 23 National Assembly elections, Jones Onyeriri and that of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Senator Osita Izunaso, made allegations of bias against the judge.
Due to the issues raised by the parties to the suit, the case was assigned to another judge of the court, Justice Okon Abang, who has already adjourned it to May 8, 2019 at the instance of the plaintiff.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has denied allegations of awarding contract for the production of election materials for the February 23, 2019, presidential election to a member of the APC.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in one of the grounds of their petition to the Presidential Election Petitions Tribunal claimed President Buhari awarded the contract for the printing of Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) to a company known as Activate
Technology Limited, owned by Alhaji Mohammed Musa, a senatorial candidate of the APC in Niger state.
However, the president through his legal team stated that Alhaji Mohammed was not a member of the APC.
