Abia PDP Ignores Ikpeazu, Heads To Tribunal To Challenge Alex Otti’s Victory

The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Abia State has decided to challenge the outcome of the recent gubernatorial election in court, ignoring the strong counsel of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu not to do so.

THE WHISTLER had reported that Governor Ikpeazu advised his party and it’s candidate as well as candidates of other political parties that partook in the process to concede defeat and congratulate Dr Alex Otti of the Labour Party for his victory in the March 18 poll.

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After Otti was declared winner by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Ikpeazu declared that the election had “come to the logical end” and advised that the governor-elect should be allowed to run the affairs of the state without distraction.

“I appeal to every candidate in this election not to distract the incoming administration with court cases, so that they will settle down and deal with the very demanding business of governance. Let us break this negative trend of subjecting our Governors to endless litigations and allow them to concentrate on providing good governance,” the governor had said in his congratulatory message to Otti.

But in a stunning move that may leave many political observers scratching their heads, Ikpeazu’s party issued a statement on Tuesday night announcing its decision to go to court to overturn Otti’s Victory.

The Abia PDP claimed that its decision followed the resolve by members of the Labour Party to take “its own candidates that won elections to court.”

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The party’s vice chairman/acting state publicity secretary, Abraham Amah, said Otti’s victory will be challenged in six Local Government Areas where the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines were allegedly not used.

“…the legal department of the Abia PDP will release the details of its petitions in the next 24 hours and head to the Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the declaration of Alex Otti of the Labour Party as the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election,” said Amah.

INEC had declared that Otti won the election in ten of the 17 local government areas, polling a total of 175,467 votes to defeat Okechukwu Ahiwe of the PDP who came in second place with 88,529 votes

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