‘It’s nothing to worry about’ — Alex Otti speaks on court verdict nullifying his candidacy

Alex Otti, Abia governor-elect, has reacted to a court ruling which nullified his candidature in the March 18 gubernatorial election in the state.

According to a statement by Kazie Uko, Mr Otti’s campaign spokesperson, the governor-elect spoke on Sunday while receiving the report of the transition council.

On Thursday, a federal high court in Kano nullified the candidature of all Labour Party (LP) contestants in Abia and Kano for the just concluded 2023 general election.

Mohammed Yunusa, the presiding judge, ruled that the LP did not comply with provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act.

The judge held that LP did not submit the register of its members in the 36 states of the federation to INEC in compliance with the electoral act.

Yunusa, however, refused to order INEC to withdraw Otti’s certificate of return.

He said since the candidates that participated in the Abia election are not parties before the court, he lacks the jurisdiction to make an order on the issuance of the certificate of return.

Reacting to the judgement, Otti said “the mandate Abia people gave us is sacrosanct,” adding that the ruling is “not something to worry about.”

He added that his lawyers “are doing something about it” and “nobody should lose sleep.”

“My lawyers are doing something about it, I can assure you, but I don’t think it’s something to worry about. However, eternal vigilance is what is required when you have enemies around you,” Otti was quoted as saying.

“So, I want to reassure you that the mandate that Abia people gave us is sacrosanct. Nobody should lose sleep. We will be sworn in on May 29, and we will complete our four years, and we will seek the renewal of the mandate, and I can assure you that Abia people will renew the mandate, and we will do another four years, and Abia people will be happy, and all these are by the grace of God.”

On March 22, INEC declared Otti as the winner of the governorship poll in Abia state.

He polled 175,467 to defeat Okey Ahiwe, his closest rival and candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 88,529 votes.