The Governorship Election Petition Tribunal Sitting in Umuahia has upheld the victory of Dr. Alex Otti in the March 23, 2023 Governorship election.
The Tribunal struck out the petition filed by PDP’s Okey Ahiwe as lacking in merit.
The Peoples Democratic Party and it’s Candidate Okey Ahiwe through their counsel Prof. Paul Anaba had filed a petition seeking for the removal of Dr. Alex Otti as the Governor of Abia state on the grounds of non-conformity with section 77 of the electoral act and other related matters.
He prayed the Court to remove the governor and declare him (Ahaiwe) as the real winner of the poll.
Ahaiwe pleaded with the tribunal to consider the materials and arguments presented before it.
The court struck out the motion stressing that it remains a pre-election matter and not to be entertained by a post election tribunal.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had in March, declared Otti of LP as the duly elected Governor of Abia, with 175,467 votes.
Okey Ahaiwe of the PDP came second with 88,527 votes, while Enyinnaya Nwafor of the YPP came third with 28,972 votes.