This Day
29 April 2011
By Ike Abonyi in Abuja , Imam Imam, John Shiklam in Kaduna
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is brainstorming on three options to address the challenge of the governorship and state House of Assembly elections in Imo State
The options, according to THISDAY checks, include ordering a rerun in the belief that it is not a fresh election, because the exercise had earlier been conducted before the constitutionally stipulated deadline which is Friday.
If the first option fails to fly, the investigation further revealed, the commission may declare a winner based on the result available to it as announced by the Chief Returning Officer in the state, Prof. Enoch Akabundu.
Given the result so far declared, the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Owelle Rochas Okorocha, had garnered 281,297, while the incumbent governor and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Ikedi Ohakim, had polled 268,927 votes.
INEC may then declare Okorocha winner with a difference of 12,370 votes and expect his opponent to challenge the result in the court of law.
By its calculation, if the suit succeeds in the court and a rerun is ordered, it then becomes a judicially-ordered poll that may not be encumbered by the requirements of any sections of the Electoral Act or the constitution.
The third option that the commission is pondering over is for the National Assembly to amend the constitution to allow for extra time to conduct the election.
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