Court declares votes for Alex Otti, other LP candidates in Abia, Kano as wasted votes

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

Justice M N Yunusa on Friday, May 19, 2023, also annulled the candidatures of all those who contested the 2023 general elections under the Labour Party (LP) in Abia and Kano States.

The judge ruled that the emergence of the candidate was not in compliance with the provisions of the 2022 electoral act.

Delivering the judgement on suit No FHC/KN/CS/107/2023, filed by one Mr Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim against the Labour Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the court ruled that the failure of the party to submit its membership register to the INEC within 30 days before their primaries renders the process null and void.

“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,” the court ruled.

Recall that INEC’s returning officer, Professor Nnenna Oti declared Otti as the winner of the March 18 Abia gubernatorial election in Abia State after winning 10 of the 17 local government areas (LGAs) in the state.

Otti polled 175,467 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Okey Ahiwe, who polled a total of 88,529 votes and Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples Party (YPP), who came third with 28,972 votes.