Abia State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it will challenge the recently held governorship election in the state which produced Labour Party candidate, Alex Otti as winner,Igbere TV reports.
This comes days after the state governor appealed to candidates who lost in the governorship contest to support the incoming governor and avoid going to court.
According to him, as someone who spent over three years in court defending his mandate in court in the past, he will advise losing candidates to instead support the governor-elect.
This may have however fell on deaf ear as the State Working Committee, SWC and the enlarged State Executive Committee, SEC met on Tuesday and reviewed the results after collecting all the materials used in the conduct of the governorship and House of Assembly elections and decided to go to court to challenge the results.
The party in a release by Hon. Elder Abraham Amah, the state Vice Chairman/Acting State Publicity Secretary said of particular interest to them is the six local government areas where the BVAS machines were allegedly not used.
The statement read in part, “This decision is coming on the heels of members of the Labour Party taking its own candidates that won elections to court despite the honest and wise advise and appeal of the Abia State governor Dr. Okezie Victor Ikpeazu that the winners of the election including the governor-elect, Alex Otti should be spared the burden of litigation which only serves to distract public officers from performing their duties and responsibilities.
“Abia PDP is shocked to note that at a time when it is making arrangements for a seamless and peaceful transition for the new government, it is the same Labour Party that was declared the winner that is trying to torpedo the process.
“Subsequently, the legal department of the Abia PDP will release the details of its petitions in the next 24 hours and head to the Election Petition Tribunal to challenge the declaration of Alex Otti of the Labour Party as the winner of the March 18, 2023 governorship election.
“We call on the good people of Abia to remain calm, peaceful and steadfast as we work to reclaim our mandate.”
