The winner of the March 18 governorship election in Abia State, Dr Alex Otti has been sworn in as the new governor of the state on Monday.
OsunDaily News gathered that Otti was sworn in by the Abia Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Lilian Abai, alongside his deputy, Ikechi Valentine Emetu.
Otti was said to have taken his oath of office during the inauguration ceremony held at the Umuahia Township Stadium.
Recall that a Federal High Court sitting in Kano, presided over by Justice M N Yunusa had in a judgement declared all the votes cast for Labour Party candidates in Kano, Abia and other states as wasted votes.
The court had ruled that the process leading to the selection of Otti and other party candidates was not in line with the requirements in the 2022 electoral act.
In the suit No FHC/KN/CS/107/2023, brought forth by Mr. Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim against the Labour Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the court ruled the Labour Party’s failure to submit its membership register to INEC at least 30 days before their primaries invalidated the selection process.
However, Otti’s legal team appealed that he be joined as an interested party while having the lower court’s judgment suspended pending determination of the case before it.
The request was granted by the Appeal Court.
