Tribunal Upholds Election Of Alex Otti As Governor Of Abia

The Election Petition Tribunal Court sitting in Umuahia has upheld the victory of Governor Alex Otti of the Labour Party in Abia State.

The judgement was given at the Federal High Court in Umuahia on Friday.

In its judgement, the tribunal led by Justice Gwadah held that on the issue of whether Dr. Otti was qualified to contest the election, the arguments of the petitioners were pre- election matters which the tribunal lacked jurisdiction to entertain.

The tribunal pointed out that the petitioners failed to provide evidence on the allegation of forgery of NYSC certificate leveled against Dr. Otti and could therefore, not prove their case, while noting that NYSC was also not a factor for qualifying or disqualifying a candidate.

It insisted that no witness called by the petitioners spoke on documents tendered to prove their allegation of over voting, which made the documents to be of no value, just as the petitioners failed to prove their claim that the result of Obingwa Local Government Area was taken to Abuja where it was allegedly doctored before being brought back to Abia to be declared.

It therefore dismissed the petition for lacking in merit.