The governorship election petition tribunal in Umuahia, the capital of Abia State, is set to deliver its judgment today on the petitions filed against Governor Alex Otti. These petitions were brought by Ikechi Emenike of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Okey Ahaiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
Ikechi Emenike, who was the APC gubernatorial candidate in the March 18 election, alleged that Governor Otti did not resign his membership from the APC before joining the Labour Party (LP) in 2022. Emenike’s petition also claimed that Otti’s name was not on the LP register when the party nominated him as its gubernatorial candidate for the 2023 election.
In his suit, Ikechi Emenike named Okey Ahaiwe of the PDP, Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as respondents.
Okey Ahaiwe of the PDP, who came second in the March 18 polls, is also challenging Governor Otti’s victory. He is seeking the court to remove the governor and declare himself as the legitimate winner of the election.
Before the adoption of the written addresses, a PDP subpoenaed witness, Samuel Oduntan, testified before the tribunal. However, Governor Otti’s counsel, A.J. Owonikoko, while adopting his written address, urged the tribunal to dismiss all suits against his client, arguing that Samuel Oduntan was not qualified to appear before the tribunal.
The verdict of this tribunal has been eagerly anticipated in Abia State, and supporters of the various candidates have been issuing statements, creating a heated atmosphere in the lead-up to the judgment.
In response to allegations regarding their involvement in sponsoring legal challenges and unrest in the state, the Abia State government has denied any involvement in such activities. The government also accused the parties challenging Otti’s victory of being behind the group that made these allegations against the state government.
To recap, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Alex Otti of the Labour Party (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 secured the third position with 28,972 votes.