The election of the Labour Party candidate in Abia state, governor-elect, Dr. Alex Otti, has been annulled by a Federal High Court sitting in Kano.
The court presided by Justice Muhammad Yunusa ruled that his emergence was not in compliance with the provisions of the 2022 Electoral Act.
A copy of the judgement delivered by the court was made available to newsmen on Friday.
The Court in Suit No FHC/KN/CS/107/2023 filed by Mr. Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim against the Labour Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), ruled that the failure of the Labour Party to submit its membership register to the INEC within 30 days before their primaries render the process invalid.
“The party that has not complied with the provisions of the electoral act cannot be said to have a candidate 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,” the Judge ruled.
It could be recalled that INEC had declared Otti of the Labour Party winner of the Abia State gubernatorial election on March 22.
Otti polled 175,467 votes, while Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) got 88,529 votes. Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples Party (YPP) came third.
