Alex Otti of the Labour Party (LP) has won the March 18 governorship election in Abia State.
Mr Otti, a retired bank executive, trounced his opponents like Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples Party (YPP).
The Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state, Prof Nnenna Nnannaya-Oti declared Otti the winner on Wednesday evening at the resumption of the final collation of governorship election results in Umuahia, the Abia State capital over 48 hours after INEC suspended the exercise in the South-East state.
Before the announcement, Nnannaya-Oti said she will do the right of the people and protect democratic values.
“I shall stand squarely and unapologetically on these principles. The people’s votes and mandate shall stand.
“The pastor and the mother in me will not permit me to do anything that will adversely affect the future of our children,” said Nnannaya-Oti, who is the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri.
The result gives the Labour its first victory in the 2023 election and the second governorship victory since Olusegun Mimiko used the platform to be elected in Ondo.
See results by parties:
A 1528
AA 474
AAC 298
ADC 2529
ADP 601
APC 24091
APGA 18119
APM 572
APP 11728
BP 1141
LP 175467
NNPP 2068
NRM 472
PDP 88529
PRP 168
SDP 773
YPP 28972
ZLP 1011
Mr Otti’s victory also ended the grip PDP has held on Abia since Nigeria returned to civil rule in 1999.
