Declare Otti Winner  of Abia Guber Poll, SAN Tells INEC

APC rejects Abia guber poll results

Wale Igbintade  and Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia

Former gubernatorial aspirant of the All Progressives Grand Alliance(APGA), in Abia State,  Etigwe Uwa, SAN has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to ‘immediately’ declare, Labour Party candidate, Dr. Alex Otti as winner of the Abia governorship election.

The senior lawyer in a statement issued yesterday noted that Dr. Otti currently leads his closest rival Okey Ahiwe of the PDP by over 94,000 votes, hence, INEC should declare  Otti as winner of the Abia State governorship election.

He stated that there was  undisputed fact that Otti has emerged as winner of the election, stressing that INEC should align with the wish of the people of Abia State and avoid unnecessary tension and break down of law and order.

The statement reads: “The people of Abia have spoken through their votes in the 17 Local Government Areas of Abia State. The results released so far show that the aggregate of votes secured by  Otti the Labour Party candidate is at least 94,000 votes more than that polled by its closest rival Mr. Okey Ahiwe the PDP.

“Only one Local Government Area result (Obingwa LGA) is yet to be announced. In Obingwa LGA it is alleged that the collation centre was invaded by thugs and the Electoral Officers held hostage and were being pressurised to announce a result in excess of 90,000 votes which is more triple the average number of votes cast in each of all the other Local Government Areas of Abia State. Thankfully the said officials have been successfully evacuated and released from the hold of their captors.

“This is a repeat of exactly what happened in 2015 when Obingwa and another Local Government Area were used to upturn the election results from about 15 other Local Government Areas. The beneficiary of that action in 2015 was the PDP and the current Governor of the State, Okezie Victor Ikpeazu who are again in the forefront of this attempted electoral theft.

“The Returning Officer and the INEC are urged to immediately note as follows:”Section 47(2) of the Electoral Act provides that “To vote, the presiding officer shall use a smart card reader or any other technological device that may be prescribed by the Commission, for the accreditation of voters, to verify, confirm or authenticate particulars of the intending voter in the manner prescribed by the commission.

“Section 47 (3) of the Act provides that “where a smart card reader or a technological device deployed for accreditation of voters fails to function in any a fresh card reader or technological device is not deployed, the election in that unit shall be cancelled and another election scheduled within 24 hours if the commission is satisfied that the result of the election in that Polling Unit will substantially affect the final result of the whole election and declaration of a winner in that constituency concerned.”

“Based on results released so far, Dr Alex Otti leads Okay Ahiwe of the PDP by over 94,000 votes. Reliable information so far obtained is to the effect that only approximately 26,400 persons were accredited for election in Obingwa Local Government Area using the smart card reader. Accordingly, even if all the votes cast in that Local Government Area were ascribed to Okey Ahiwe the PDP candidate, the Labour Party candidate, Dr Alex Otti would still win the governorship elections.

“Section 47 makes it mandatory for accreditation to be done via a smart card reader or other technological means. Section §1(2) of the Electoral Act provides that: “where the number of votes cast at an election in any Polling Unit exceeds the number of accredited voters in the Polling Unit the presiding officer shall cancel the result of the election in that polling unit.

“Section 51(1) provides that: “Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) and (3) the commission may, if satisfied that the result of the election will not substantially be affected by voting in the area where the election is cancelled, direct that a return of the election be made.” Given that the total amount of voters accredited in Obingwa Local Government Area via BVAS is approximately 26,000 and any results more than this number must be cancelled, and Dr. Alex Otti currently leads his closest rival Okey Ahiwe of the PDP by at over 94,000 votes, INEC is urged to direct that Dr. Alex Otti be immediately declared the winner of the Abia State governorship election 2023. This conclusion is unassailable given the undisputed evidence that is available and is necessary to align the result with the express wish of the people of Abia State and thus avoid any unnecessary tension and break down of law and order.”

Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State  has rejected  the March 18 governorship election results, saying that the outcome “neither reflects the actual votes cast nor the wishes of Abians.”

In its formal reaction to the outcome of the poll contained in a statement made available to the media yesterday, Abia APC said that the poll results being bandied about and mired in controversy should not stand.

“Abia APC rejects in its entirety the results of the Abia gubernatorial election,” the party said.

Abia APC expressed its disgust with “the-so-called governorship election” in the statement signed by the trio of Dr Kingsley Ononogbu, state chairman, Chief Chidi Avajah, state secretary, and Chief Uche Ogboso, Director-general, Ikechi Emenike Campaign Organisation.

“Abia State All Progressives Congress (APC) rejects in its entirety the results of the Abia gubernatorial election,”.

The main Abia opposition described the 2023 governorship poll in Abia as “the worst form of competitive election rigging between PDP and Labour Party.”

“The 2023 Governorship Election in Abia is therefore, nothing but a charade. Both the manipulators and the beneficiaries of this juggling of figures know that the results churned out have no resemblance to the reality on ground,” the party said.

Abia APC regretted that the genuine intention  of Abia voters to elect a new governor had been vitiated following barefaced, manipulations and allocation of votes.

APC said: “Instead of giving Abians accurate election results reflecting the choice they had made with their ballots, they have been served a concoction of allocated scores laced with shameless shenanigans.

“We are also aware that the orchestrated alterations of the poll results and allocation of votes were purposely contrived against our party, the APC.”

The party  also alleged that the manipulation of the poll results was principally designed by its traducers to “humiliate” the party and diminish its high octave popularity and acceptability across Abia State.”

The party stated that the main purpose of juggling and manipulation of votes was carried out “just to sustain the contrived fallacy that the party is not firmly rooted in Abia”.

To buttress its argument, Abia APC said that it was unthinkable to suggest that Labour Party will score 27,000 votes in Umuahia North Local Government and APC 7, 225 votes, calling it “a very infantile exercise in vote allocation fixed against APC”.

“Another curious example is that in the entire Ugwunagbo Local Government Area, APC was allocated 375 votes, while in Osisioma 504 votes was allocated to APC despite the hard work of the former State Chairman, Hon Donatus Nwankpa, who worked tirelessly with others to make our Party a household name.

“Are they saying that APC has no members in these Local Government Areas? Even the number of very active APC EXCO members from wards to local governments are far more than the allocated votes,” said Abia APC.

“The same scenario of vote allocation played out across the 17 Local Government Areas of the State, all to the advantage of the predetermined beneficiaries, Labour Party and PDP.

“All imaginable malpractices were employed to achieve their desired nefarious results. Abians have been treated to the worst form of competitive election rigging between PDP and Labour Party”.

The Abia APC called on INEC to carry out a simultaneous review of vote figures in “all the identified places (such as Obingwa, Aba North, Aba South, Umuahia North, among others) where there were glaring over-voting should be reviewed simultaneously”.   

“As a Party, we are taking a critical and careful look at the whole sham being passed as governorship election results in Abia. We shall take appropriate action in due course”.

Meanwhile the Abia APC leadership has appealed to all its “members and our teeming supporters to remain calm as the party leadership responds to the situation”.