Court nullifies LP candidate Otti’s election as Abia governor-elect

A Federal High Court sitting in Kano State has nullified the candidature of Abia State Governor-elect, Dr. Alex Otti.

Justice M.N. Yunusa who presided over the case also nullified the candidatures of all candidates who participated in the 2023 general elections under the Labour Party (LP) in Abia and Kano States.

The court, in Suit No FHC/KN/CS/107/2023, which was filed by Mr. Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim against the LP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), ruled that the candidates’ emergence did not comply with the provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act.

Justice Yunusa’s judgment, delivered on Friday, emphasized that the Labour Party’s failure to submit its membership register to INEC within the prescribed 30-day period before their primaries rendered the entire process null and void. The court made the judgment public on Friday morning.

“The party that has not complied with the provisions of the Electoral Act cannot be said to have candidates in an election and cannot be declared winner of an election. This being so, the votes credited to the 1st defendant is a wasted vote,” ruled the Judge.

Otti, representing the LP, was declared the winner by INEC after securing victory in 10 out of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in the state, receiving a total of 175,467 votes.

Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) obtained a total of 88,529 votes, securing second place, while Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples Party (YPP) came in third with 28,972 votes.

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