Alex Otti, the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), has been declared the winner of the governorship poll in Abia state, defeating the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Okey Ahiwe.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Mr Otti on Wednesday.
The banker and economist is the first and only governor-elect on the platform of the LP in the 2023 general elections.
His declaration as the winner follows the conclusion of the collation of the outstanding results from the Obingwa local government area after thugs invaded its office in the area.
INEC on Monday announced the suspension of the collation of results from Obingwa and set up a panel to review the Abia governorship election results.
The commission said the thugs held some of its officials’ hostage which prompted the electoral commission to call for a review of the process.
In the results, Mr Otti of the LP polled 175,467 to defeat Okey Ahiwe, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 88,529 votes.
On Tuesday, TheCable reported how Otti called on INEC to declare the results of the election to ease tension in the state.
“I have called on INEC to release the results forthwith so Abia will be at peace. It is our firm belief that INEC will do the right thing and ensure that only results that are based on the BVAS as provided in section 47 of the electoral act are acceptable,” he said while addressing a press conference in Abuja.
“I believe that once that is done, we will be announced as the winners of that election.
“They (INEC) actually asked for a review which is provided for in the electoral act. INEC has about seven days even after the declaration to review and make a change if there is a need to do so.”
