Emmanuel Thomas l Wednesday, March 22, 2023
UMUAHIA, Abia – It was jubilation galore in Umuahia, capital of Abia State and the entire Abia State when the Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Nnenna Oti, who is Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, FUTO announced candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Alex Otti as winner of the election in the state.
Alex Otti polled 175,467 votes to defeat candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Okey Ahiwe to the second place. Okey Ahiwe scored 88,529 while Enyinnaya Nwafor of YPP got 28,972.
Recall that the result of the election dragged on following pressure on the Returning Officer to compromise the results.
Speaking before the collation exercise, the Professor declared she is from Ebonyi State and said the position of INEC on Obingwa is already in the public domain, stressing that democracy remains the best form of government and that the will of the people must stand.
Speaking earlier, Alex Otti said any results different from what is found in the BVAS will not be accepted and called on INEC chairman to ensure that the right thing is done.
“I urge the INEC chairman to prevail on the INER Resident Electoral Commissioner for Abia and other INEC Staff to give peace a chance and ensure that the right thing is done.
“You have braved all their attacks and intimidations to exercise your right to vote. The job is almost done umunnem, but first, we must secure this mandate. Stay vigilant for we ar up against an age long structure of impunity and they will not go down without a fight. But the beauty of it is that they are by far outnumbered. We shall look back and be proud we did this for ourselves and generation to come”, he said.
