Alex Otti, the Labour Party’s Abia governorship candidate, has demanded that he be declared the winner of the state’s governorship election on Saturday.
Otti made the declaration during a press conference on Tuesday in Abuja, where he stated that results from 16 of the state’s 17 Local Government Areas clearly show that he won the election.
WITHIN NIGERIA earlier reported the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the indefinite suspension of the collation of the results after political thugs disrupted the process on Sunday.
Thugs said to be affiliated with the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stormed INEC’s collation center in Obingwa Local Government Area, attempting to force electoral officers to declare forged results in the LGA.
Speaking at the Transcorp Hilton in Abuja, Otti said that having secured approximately 172,000 votes to the PDP’s 71,000 votes in the 16 LGAs, the ruling party could not “torpedo our victory” by using falsified results from the last LGA, which he claims has less than 30,000 registered voters.
He also warns INEC Chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu not to use himself as a tool to subvert the will of the people, emphasizing that he clearly won the majority of votes cast by the people of Abia.
He also urged the commission’s management to do the right thing by ensuring that whatever decision they reach following their ongoing review of Obingwa LGA results reflects the will of the people.