An Abia Election Petition Tribunal’s judgement affirming Alex Otti as winner of the state’s governorship election, has been affirmed by a court of appeal sitting in Lagos.
An appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their governorship candidates against the election of Governor Otti, was dismissed by the appellate court.
The three-man panel stated that the appeal brought by the appellants lacked merit, as they were like “a comedy skit brought to a democratic setting.”
According to the court, issues of political party membership are a pre-election matter, which also falls within the jurisdiction of the political party. The court added that since Otti joined the Labour Party, won its primary election and submitted his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he was qualified to contest.
On the issues of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS, brought by the PDP and its candidate, the Appeal Court said the appellants failed to demonstrate or link their documentary evidence to the specific parts of the case.
