The governorship election petition tribunal, sitting in Umuahia, Abia State capital, will rule today on petitions filed against Governor Alex Otti by Ikechi Emenike of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Okey Ahaiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Through his lead Counsel, Tochukwu Maduka, SAN, Emenike asked the Court to remove Governor Otti from office, stating that Otti had not relinquish his APC membership before joining LP in 2022. Emenike was the APC guber candidate in the March 18 election.
In his appeal, Emenike also claimed that Otti’s name was not in the LP’s registry when the party chose him as its governorship candidate for the 2023 election.
In the suit, Ikechi Emenike was joined as a respondent by Okey Ahaiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party, Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Progressive Party, and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
Okey Ahaiwe of the PDP, who finished second in the March 18 polls, is also disputing Governor Otti’s victory, asking the Court to remove the governor and designate him (Ahaiwe) as the true winner of the election.
Ahaiwe made his case through his lead Counsel, Paul Ananaba, SAN, pleading with the tribunal to take into account the facts and arguments placed before it.
Prior to the acceptance of the written addresses, a PDP subpoenaed witness, Samuel Oduntan, testified before the tribunal.
However, while adopting his written address, Governor Otti’s Counsel, A.J. Owonikoko, urged the tribunal to dismiss all suits made against his client, Otti.
He further claimed that Samuel Oduntan was ineligible to testify before the tribunal.
As a result, the SAN requested that the tribunal uphold his client’s (Otti’s) victory.
Since last week, the Abia State information space has been flooded with furious pronouncements from various organizations in response to today’s decision.
Supporters of the three gladiators have issued a number of remarks, some of which have been the topic of a media war in the State since this week.
Earlier this week, the state government denied funding the presidential candidate of the Labour Party in the February 25 election, Mr Obi’s Court challenge against President Bola Tinubu’s victory, as reported by a group.
In the statement, the state administration also refuted allegations that it was funding members of the Indigenous People of Biafra, or IPOB, to incite unrest in Abia.
The Abia government also accused the two parties contesting Otti’s victory of funding the group that launched the claims against the Abia State government.
However, the PDP in the state, in a statement signed by Vice Chairman Abraham Amah, denied intimidating tribunal members or endorsing any group.
In March, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) confirmed Alex Otti of the LP as the legitimately elected Governor of Abia, with 175,467 votes.
Okey Ahaiwe of the PDP received 88,527 votes, while Enyinnaya Nwafor of the YPP received 28,972 votes.