A few hours after the Lagos Appeal Court re-affirmed the March 18, 2023, Abia governorship election victory of Governor Alex Otti of Abia State, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state has called for calm, stating that their lawyers are looking at the judgment.

According to the Abia PDP Vice Chairman and Acting State Publicity Secretary, Hon. Elder Abraham Amah, in a press statement, “The attention of the Abia PDP has been drawn to the judgment of the three-man panel of Appeal Court judges, which sat in Lagos and upheld the decision of the Abia Election Petition Tribunal, which had affirmed Alex Otti as the winner of the March 18, 2023 Abia governorship election following his declaration by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

“Following the judgment of the Appeal Court, the Abia PDP assures its members, numerous supporters across party lines, and the good people of Abia State to remain calm as the party leadership is meeting with the governorship candidate, his running mate, and the legal team to review the judgment of the Appeal Court and come up with the next line of action.

“Abia PDP uses this opportunity to reiterate its confidence in the judiciary as the last hope of the common man and one of the strongest pillars of our democracy,” it said.

The party called on its members, their numerous supporters and sympathisers, as well as the people of Abia State, “to remain steadfast, calm, peaceful, law-abiding, and put our hope and trust in God and in the judiciary as we explore the options available to us,” assuring that the Peoples Democratic Party would never abandon them.

However, the Labour Party and other Abians are excited and have reacted to the court judgments.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Kazie Uko, described the judgment as a welcome development, adding that ”we are of the opinion that the litigants would stop at this moment and join hands with the governor to move the state forward. We are also thinking that reason will prevail, and they will join the governor to move the state forward and stop all these things they are doing in court.”

Also reacting to the judgment, the state chairman of the Labour Party, C. K. Igara, said he didn’t expect anything less “because Abians voted massively for the Labour Party and Dr Alex Otti,” stating that if the court had ruled otherwise, “there would have been uproar” in the state as everywhere is now calm as the will of the people is upheld, “unlike that of Darlington Nwokocha and others that were turned against the will of the people.”

According to him, “the will of the people has been upheld, and therefore, we are now ready to focus on the delivery of what we promised Abians and Nigerians living in Abia State.”

He advised the opposition to come and join hands with them to “move the state forward by curbing this unnecessary distraction of the government” and called on the state governor, Alex Otti, to give to the people, make their job easier, and make LP a brand for everybody to join and deliver to the people, a democracy dividend.

Also speaking, the Campaign Coordinator of Alex Otti, Rt. Hon. Acho Obioma, thanked God over the victory, describing it as the confirmation of the will of the Abians who voted massively for the state governor, and assured that the people will witness the increased delivery of democracy dividends to them by Alex Otti.

In their reaction, the Coalition of South East Youth Leaders (COSEYL), the apex sociopolitical youth group in the South East geopolitical zone, described the victory as “a sign of fresh air in Abia,” warning Ahiwe, Emenike, and others to stop distracting Otti.

According to the President General, Comrade Goodluck Ibem; “This victory will bring to bear transformational leadership, accelerated development, and a breath of fresh air in Abia State.

“We warn the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Mr. Okey Ahaiwe, and the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Chief Ikechi Emenike, to stop distracting Governor Otti, whom the good people of Abia State gave their mandate to serve,” and commended the judiciary for standing up in defence of democracy by validating the mandate given to Governor Otti by Abians,” he added.

The Appeal Court sitting in Lagos had on Saturday re-affirmed the victory of Dr Alex Otti as the duly elected Governor of Abia State, having dismissed the appeal filed by both the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, and their candidates, Okey Ahiwe and Ikechi Emenike, respectively, challenging the victory of Governor Otti at the March 18, 2023 governorship election in Abia.

The Court stated that the judgment of the Federal High Court, Kano, and the reasons for discountenancing it do not form part of the ratio decidendi of the case, describing all arguments in respect of it, to be deemed otiose and suffer the fate of striking out.

It further described the PDP’s case as “woeful” and that of the APC as a “comedy skit” for being incompetent, being a pre-election matter, and as membership in a political party is non-justiceable and strictly within the province of a political party. (Nigerian Tribune)

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