19th July, 2022
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has replied to Nigerian music star, Davido, over the Certificate of Return for his uncle Sen. Ademola Adeleke who won the July 16 governorship election in Osun.
Davido had called out the electoral umpire on his verified Twitter handle on Tuesday for failing to issue a Certificate of Return to Adeleke after 48 hours of his victory.
The tweet reads, “48hrs after our @AAdeleke_01 victory at the Osun Gubernatorial elections, we are yet to receive our certificate.
“@inecnigeria should we send you fuel money? LOL Please no one should tamper with the will of the Osun People! Issue the certificate as required by Law!
Replying to Davido, INEC, in a statement issued on Tuesday, July 19, 2022, by its National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, stated that it has 14 days to issue a Certificate of Return to the winner of elections.
He said: “There is no law in place that mandates the Commission to issue a certificate to any candidate within 48 hours.
“The Commission is not a political party and will not be swayed by partisan political interests.
“Section 72 of the Electoral Act 2022 provides that a sealed certificate of return at an election in the prescribed form shall be issued within 14 days to every candidate who has been returned by the Returning Officer in an election under the Act”.