ENUGU, Nigeria (VOICE OF NAIJA) – Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, has congratulated the Abia State Governor-elect, Alex Otti of the Labour Party candidate.
Otti was declared winner of the Saturday 18 March, 2023, governorship election, Wednesday evening by the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC).
Voiceofnaija.ng reports that the returning Officer of the INEC in the State, Prof Nnenna Nnannaya-Oti declared Otti the winner at the resumption of the final collation of governorship election results in Umuahia, the Abia State capital.
Otti trounced his opponents, Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples Party (YPP).
He scored 175,467, while Ahiwe polled 88,529 and Nwafor got 28,972.
Commending him, Governor Okezie, in a statement shortly after the INEC declared Otti as the winner of the poll, said the Labour Party candidate fought a long battle over a very long period of time and should be commended for his staying power and resilience.
Okezie also urged all Otti’s opponents including his PDP’s candidate, Okey Ahiwe not to distract the incoming governor with court cases.
Ikpeazu, in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Onyebuchi Ememanka, said the governor-elect must see his victory as a higher call to service to the people of Abia State.
He also saluted the other candidates who took part in the election, especially the PDP candidate for their doggedness. He advised the candidates not to distract the incoming governor with court cases.
“Having myself spent about three and half years in different courts and having experienced first hand, the distraction such cases can cause a leader, I appeal to every candidate in this election not to distract the incoming administration with court cases, so that they will settle down and deal with the very demanding business of governance.
“Let us break this negative trend of subjecting our Governors to endless litigations and allow them to concentrate on providing good governance,” he said.
Ikpeazu further assured Otti that he would put in place every necessary measure to ensure a seamless transition.