The Abia State Election Petition Tribunal in Umuahia has ruled in favour of Governor Alex Otti and rejected all three of the petitions filed by Peoples Democratic Party candidate Okey Ahaiwe.
At around 1:20 pm, the judge ruled against Ahaiwe and found her case to be without merit.
When the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced Otti as the victorious candidate for governor, Ahaiwe filed an appeal.
Ahaiwe had prayed for the court to remove Otti and declare him the winner through his attorney, Paul Ananaba, SAN.
The PDP nominee prayed that Otti’s victory be overturned on the grounds that it did not comply with Section 77 of the Electoral Act.
The court, however, dismissed all of the petitions as being without merit.
Thousands of LP fans reportedly went into an outburst of spontaneous jubilation after the victory, dancing in celebration outside the Federal High Court facility, as reported by InfoStride News.
Meanwhile, the court is hearing the APC’s complaint against Otti, brought by Ikechi Emenike.
On the grounds that Otti did not resign from the APC before joining the LP, Emenike has asked the tribunal to remove him from office.
The APC gubernatorial candidate is also arguing that Otti’s name was not on the LP voter roll when he ran for office on March 18.
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