By Kayode Lawal
The Supreme Court on Friday upheld the victory of Gov. Alex Otti as the duly elected governor of Abia state.
Justice Uwani Abba-Aji while delivering her judgment declared the appeals by both PDP and APC lacked merit.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had, on 22 March 2023, declared Otti, the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), as the winner of the governorship election in the state.
He polled 175,466 votes to defeat his closest rival, Ahiwe of the PDP, who scored 88,529 votes in the election.
However, Ahiwe, and his APC counterpart, Ikechi Emenike, separately challenged the victory at the Abia State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Umuahia.
Messrs Ahiwe and Emenike, in their petitions, contended that Otti was not qualified to run for the election on the basis that he was not a member of the LP at the time of the exercise.
They also claimed that Otti did not win the majority of lawful votes cast and that there were irregularities at the poll.
But delivering judgement on the appeal on 6 October, a three-member panel of judges dismissed all petitions by Ahiwe, and his party, the PDP, against the election of Otti.
The Court Appeal in Lagos State, in December 2023, also affirmed Otti’s victory.
Dissatisfied with the rulings of the courts, Mr Ahiwe filed another suit at the Supreme Court.
