The Court of Appeal in Lagos has dismissed the appeals filed against the election of Governor Alex Otti of Abia State.
The appeals were brought by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their respective governorship candidates.
The three-man Appeal Court panel unanimously upheld Otti’s victory, stating that it complied with the provisions of the Electoral Act. The court ruled that the appellants’ petitions lacked merit, describing them as “a comedy skit brought to a democratic setting.”
The court clarified that issues of political party membership fall within the jurisdiction of the political party itself and that Otti’s membership with the Labour Party and subsequent submission of his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) rendered him eligible to contest the election.
Addressing the PDP and its candidate’s concerns regarding the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the appeal court noted that the appellants failed to provide sufficient evidence to support their claims.
