10 days to inauguration, Governor-elect, Alex Otti, candidates of LP in Abia, Kano States sacked

The candidature of the Abia State Governor-elect, Dr Alex Otti has been nullified by a Federal High Court sitting in Kano.

Justice M.N. Yunusa which gave the ruling on Friday, also nullified the candidatures of all those who contested the 2023 general elections under the Labour Party in the two states.

The judge ruled that the emergence of the candidates was not in compliance with the provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act.

Persecondnews reports that the suit was filed by Mr Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim against the LP and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

Yunusa held that the failure of the Labour Party to submit its membership register to the INEC within 30 days before their primaries renders the process null and void.

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“The party that has not complied with the provisions of the electoral act cannot be said to have candidates in an election and cannot be declared winner of an election.

“This being so, the votes credited to the 1st defendant is a wasted vote,” he declared.

Otti had on April 14, 2023 constituted a 75-member committee for his inauguration on May 29 having been declared the winner of the March 18 Abia governorship poll by the INEC after winning 10 of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in the state and polled 175,467 votes.

The People’s Democratic Party’s candidate, Mr Okey Ahiwe, polled a total of 88,529 votes while Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples Party (YPP) came third with 28,972 votes.