Abia guber: INEC declares LP’s Alex otti winner

 

.Don’t rob our party of victory, Abure warns commission

.Ikpeazu congratulates gov-elect, urges PDP not to challenge victory.

Steve Unegbu, Umuahia and Obiora Ifoh, Abuja

Independent National Election Commission INEC has declared. Dr Alex  Otti of the Labour party as the winner of the March 18, 2023, Abia Governorship election.

The INEC  Governorship election result from Returning Officer for  Abia state, Prof Nnenna Oti and Vice-Chancellor, the Federal University of Technology Owerri FUTO on Wednesday after collating the controversial  Obingwa LGA result, declared the results that Dr Alex Otti as the winner of the Abia Governorship election

She said the Labour Party candidate, Dr Alex Chioma Otti polled a total of 175467 votes to defeat his closet rival the PDP candidate Sir Okey Ahiwe who scored a total of 88529 votes while the YYP candidate Engr Enyinnaya Nwafor polled a total of 28972 votes to came third position and the APC candidate Chief Ikechi Emenike scored a total of 24091 votes to come 4th position among others

According to her,” That Otti Alex Chioma of Labour Party having certified the requirements of the law is hereby declared the Winner and he is return elected.

Meanwhile, The Governor of Abia State, Dr Okezie Victor Ikpeazu congratulated the Labour Party candidate in the 2023 Gubernatorial Election in Abia state, Dr Alex Otti on his emergence as Governor-Elect.

 

In a statement signed by his chief press secretary and made available, Ikpeazu noted that Otti has fought a long battle over a very long period of time and deserves commendation for his staying power and resilience.

He said,” Since we have come to the logical end of this battle, it is appropriate to congratulate the winner, Dr Alex Otti on his hard-fought victory. In every battle, there will always be a winner and in the spirit of sportsmanship and love for our State,the Governor-elect must see his victory as a higher call to service to the people of Abia state”

 

He further saluted the other candidates who took part in the election, especially the PDP candidate,Sir Okey Ahiwe for their doggedness, added that the Governor-Elect should be given an enabling environment to run the affairs of State from May 29th,2023 and hereby advises the candidates not to distract the incoming Governor with court cases .

 

According to him,” having myself spent about three and half years in different courts and having experienced first hand,the distraction such cases can cause a leader .

 

He appealed to every candidate in this election not to distract the incoming administration with court cases ,so that they will settle down and deal with the very demanding business of governance, said,” Let us break this negative trend of subjecting our Governors to endless litigations  and allow them to concentrate on providing good governance”while promising to put in place every measure to ensure a seamless transition from his administration to his.

Continuing, he thanks the people of Abia state for casting their votes in a very peaceful atmosphere and reminded  them that peace remains very critical in the quest for sustainable development,as well as charging them to accord the incoming Governor every necessary support that will enable him succed and wish him God’s blessings and guidance.

In a similar vein,the Speaker Abia state House of Assembly, Engr Chinedum Orji has congratulated Dr Alex Otti on his victory described the victory as well deserved.

The Speaker stated  this in his congratulation message signed and made available by his chief press secretary Jude Chijioke Ndukwe.

He wishes the Governor -elect a peaceful and successful reign and enjoined all Abians of Goodwill to cooperate and support the incoming Government

In another development,The national chairman of the Labour Party, LP, Barr. Julius Abure has warned the Independent National Electoral  Commission, INEC not to contemplate upturning the governorship election victory the party won in Enugu state under any circumstances.

 

The party’s National chairman who said that though the review of the election affirms the Labour Party as the winner of the disputed election but expressed fears that INEC is under pressure to shirt-change LP and award the state to the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

 

In a statement, LP chairman said, “The information reaching our party has it that the on going review of the governorship election results from Enugu state by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC is being tailored towards short-changing the Labour Party, LP and in favour of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP.

 

“We do not want to believe that information even though we consider it very credible. We are also aware that INEC having reviewed the information from the Voters Accreditation Registrar, the BVAS and IReV must by now be well aware that Labour Party won the election clearly.

 

“We are however appalled that INEC is taking so much time in making a definite pronouncement on the outcome of the result which is already in the public sphere.

 

“However, for the sake of emphasis, we want to inform Nigerians the crux of the contention. According to the data from INEC at our disposal and that can be verified, the total number of registered voters in Nkanu East was 36,976. The number of Permanent Voters’ Cards, PVC, collected was 27,594 and the number of voters accredited by BVAS on election day was 7,453.

 

“However, having noticed that LP is cruising to victory with over 15,000 votes, the PDP in collaboration with some compromised INEC officials padded and announced 30,560 as votes earned by the PDP candidate. The intention obviously was to ensure that PDP garners more votes than the LP.

 

“The Labour Party is contesting this outrageous figure on the ground that PDP couldn’t  have scored votes more that the accredited votes for the Local Government Area. Where did they get the votes because it is certainly not from that same election which held simultaneously with both the state assembly and the Senate. None of these election recorded such magnitude of votes.

 

“So, Labour Party is demanding that in line with the Electoral Act, in places where there is over voting such election must be cancelled. Secondly, the margin of lead by the LP’s candidate which is about 15000 was bigger than the number of the people that were accredited to vote in Nkanu East. So, even if you add the whole 7,453 accredited votes to the PDP,  LP’s total votes will still be higher.

 

“We are therefore worried that INEC is even contemplating short-changing the Labour Party. With the information at our disposal, we are calling on INEC to do the right thing. Labour Party has won virtually all the elections in Enugu state including seven out of eight House of Representatives and two senate seats out of the three senatorial positions. It will interest you to know that the LP senatorial candidate that was assassinated three days to the election, a replacement was effected and the LP won convincingly. This election in dispute was conducted thesame day with the senatorial election which we won. It is therefore no doubt that Enugu state is a LP state. If they are smart, they would have known that on the same day, state House of Assembly election took place and it is still the same number of people that were accredited for the exercise.

 

“We are therefore calling on INEC, that having meted out injustices to Labour Party in the presidential election and across other states including Lagos, Edo, Rivers, Imo amongst others, it will be infra-dig if Enugu governorship is by any means ceded to any other party aside LP which won the election convincingly. This will amount to open rape of democracy. It will be another height of injustice. INEC owes itself a duty to protect its intergirty which is already challenged and ensure that the real meaning of democracy is guarded and respected in Nigeria.”