The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abia State has rejected the Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal’s affirmation of Alex Otti’s victory in the March 18 election. The party has described the judgment as a miscarriage of justice.
In a statement issued by the Chairman of the APC in Abia State, Dr. Kingsley Ononogbu, the party expressed its dissatisfaction with the verdict and announced plans to appeal the judgment. “We have mandated our legal team to appeal this judgment,” said Dr. Ononogbu.
On Friday, the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal in Umuahia made a ruling that rejected the petition of IIkechi Emenike, the All Progressive Congress (APC) candidate, against Alex Otti, the Labour Party (LP) governor of Abia State.
The tribunal’s chairperson, Justice Omolara Adeyemi, explained that the APC candidate’s request was legally flawed. She dismissed the petition for having no merit. She also confirmed that Alex Otti was the rightful winner of the governorship election.
The tribunal stated that the issues raised by the petitioners were pre-election matters. They questioned Otti’s eligibility to run for the election. The tribunal said that it had no authority to hear such matters.
The APC has raised concerns over what it perceives as the tribunal’s disregard for substantial evidence and facts provided by the party during the proceedings. The party alleges that extraneous forces influenced the proceedings, leading to a verdict that does not reflect the true outcome of the election.