The Abia State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal has upheld the election victory of Alex Otti, the Labour Party (LP) candidate.
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The tribunal, sitting in Umuahia, the state capital, dismissed three of the prayers brought forth by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Okey Ahaiwe, against Otti.
The tribunal’s judgment, delivered at approximately 1:20 p.m., declared that Ahaiwe’s case against Otti lacked merit. Ahaiwe had contested the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) declaration of Otti as the duly elected governor and sought to be declared the winner, citing various grievances, including non-conformity with Section 77 of the Electoral Act. However, all of Ahaiwe’s requests were dismissed by the tribunal for lacking merit.
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This decision by the tribunal prompted spontaneous jubilation among thousands of LP supporters who had gathered from various parts of the state. They celebrated with dancing and joyous expressions outside the Federal High Court complex.
In the meantime, the tribunal is currently presiding over another case brought by Ikechi Emenike of the APC against Governor Otti. Emenike is seeking Otti’s removal, alleging that Otti failed to resign his membership from the APC before joining the LP.
Furthermore, Emenike alleges that Otti’s name was not included in the LP register during the gubernatorial election held on March 18th.
