Appeal Court Affirms Otti’s Election As Abia Governor

An Appeal Court sitting in Lagos State has upheld the election of Governor Alex Otti in the March 18 governorship poll in the state, stating that the exercise conformed with the provisions of the Electoral Act.

It dismissed the appeals brought by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC), and their governorship candidates against Otti’s victory, saying the petitions lacked merit.

According to the appellate court, issues of political party membership, as put forward by the appellants, is a pre-election matter, which falls within the jurisdiction of the political party.

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The court in its Saturday judgment said Governor Otti was qualified to contest the election since he joined the Labour Party (LP), won its primary election, and submitted his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The court also held that the PDP and its candidate failed to demonstrate or link their documentary evidence on issues of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) to the specific parts of the case.