BREAKING: Tribunal Upholds Election of Alex Otti as Abia State Governor

The governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Umuahia, Abia State capital, has upheld the victory of Governor Alex Otti of the Labour Party.

POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the tribunal dismissed the petitions filed by Ikechi Emenike of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Okey Ahaiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who had challenged Otti’s election.

Emenike had alleged that Otti did not resign his membership of the APC before joining the LP in 2022 and that his name was not in the register of the LP when the party nominated him as its governorship candidate for the 2023 election.

The tribunal, led by Justice HTD Gwadah, in its ruling on Friday, said that the PDP and Ahiwe failed to prove their allegations of electoral fraud and irregularities beyond a reasonable doubt.

The PDP and Ahiwe had approached the tribunal seeking the nullification of Otti’s election on three grounds: that Otti was not qualified to run for the election, that he did not get the highest number of votes cast, and that the election was marred by corrupt practices.

On the ground of qualification, the PDP and Ahiwe alleged that Otti did not participate in the LP’s primary election and did not submit any evidence of membership to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

However, the tribunal held that the issue of primary election and nomination of candidates is an internal affair of the party and that it lacks jurisdiction to entertain such matters.

The PDP and Ahiwe also alleged that Otti did not submit any evidence of participation in the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

However, the tribunal ruled that the PDP and Ahiwe failed to provide any evidence to support their claim.

On the allegation of electoral fraud and irregularities, the PDP and Ahiwe alleged that there were overvoting and non-compliance with the Electoral Act by INEC during the election.

However, the tribunal held that the PDP and Ahiwe failed to provide any evidence to support their allegations.

The tribunal ruled that the PDP and Ahiwe’s petition lacked merit and dismissed it accordingly.