Supreme Court Upholds Election of Alex Otti as Abia Governor
In a recent development, the Supreme Court has affirmed the election of Alex Otti as the duly elected Governor of Abia State. Justice Uwani Abba-Aji, delivering the judgment, dismissed the appeal lodged against Otti's victory, stating that the appeal by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lacked merit.
The appeals challenging Otti's election were filed by the PDP candidate, Chief Okey Ahiwe, and the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Chief Ikechi Emenike. Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared Otti, who won on the platform of the Labour Party (LP), as the winner with 175,466 votes, defeating Ahiwe of the PDP who secured 88,529 votes in the gubernatorial poll held on March 18, 2023.
Expressing dissatisfaction with the election outcome, both Ahiwe and Emenike separately challenged it. However, the Abia State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal, in a judgment on October 6, 2023, dismissed the petitions, upholding Otti's election victory. The Court of Appeal in Lagos subsequently affirmed the tribunal's decision, dismissing the appeals lodged by both the PDP and APC candidates against Otti. With the Supreme Court's recent affirmation, the legal challenges surrounding Alex Otti's election as the Governor of Abia State are conclusively settled.