Breaking: Tribunal Affirms the Victory of Dr Alex Otti as Abia Governor
The Abia state governorship election petition tribunal sitting in Umuahia, the capital city of Abia has dismissed the petition of Chief Okey AHIWE, the PDP gubernatorial candidate, Abia state. Chief Okey AHIWE in his suit seek the disqualification of the Labour party candidate, Dr. Alex Otti.
The three member panel led by justice Gwadah, on Friday, October 6, dismissed the petition for lacking merit and upholds Dr Alex Otti as the duly elected governor of Abia State.
Justice Gwadah in his verdict, held that the tribunal lacks jurisdiction to decide whether Dr Alex Otti is qualified to contest the election or not as it is a preelection matter.
Further, the judge also pointed out that the petitioners failed to provide evidence to back up his allegation of NYSC certificate forgery leveled against Dr Otti. According to him, there was nothing to prove that the NYSC certificate was forged. He also noted that NYSC was also not a factor for qualifying or disqualifying a candidate.
However, the judges maintained that the witness called by the petitioners did not speak on documents tender to prove their allegation of over voting, which renders the documents useless. Conversely, 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.
The tribunal therefore dismissed the petition for lacking in merit.