Abia Guber: Again, Otti floors PDP, APC at Appeal Court
From Boniface Okoro, Umuahia
The Court of Appeal, Owerri Division, has affirmed the electoral victory of Dr. Alex Otti of the Labour Party (LP) in the March 18, 2023 governorship election in Abia State and dismissed the appeals of both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for lack of merit.
The appellate Court which relocated to Lagos to deliver it’s ruling on Saturday, December 2, 2023, upheld the verdict of the Election Petitions Tribunal which earlier ruled the Dr Alex Otti won the 2023 Abia Governorship contest.
The Appeal Court, in dismissing PDP and it’s Governorship Candidate, Okey Ahiwe, as well as that of APC and its Governorship Candidate High Chief Ikechi Emenike’s appeals, resolved all the issues around qualification as pre-election matters in favour of the Respondents.
It highlighted that the judgment of the Federal High Court in Kano was irrelevant to the case, leading to the striking out of related arguments.
The court also dismissed the filing of a separate written address by the 3rd Respondent, stating that it was not central to the appellants’ grievances.
Furthermore, the court found Issue 3 and its arguments incompetent and struck them out. The issue of membership was deemed a post-election matter under Section 177(c) of the 1999 Constitution, while compliance with the mode of emergence of a candidate was considered a pre-election matter.
The court established that Alex Otti joined the Labour Party, won its primary election, and submitted his name to INEC, making him qualified to contest. Section 77(3) of the Electoral Act was noted for regulatory purposes without sanctions for non-compliance.
The court clarified that party membership is non-justiciable and falls within the political party’s jurisdiction. Section 77(2) & (3) of the Electoral Act cannot expand constitutional qualifying and disqualifying criteria, according to the Court.
The lower Tribunal’s decision to strike out paragraphs related to pre-election complaints was deemed correct. On the merit of the offensive paragraphs, it was found that Alex Otti participated in the Labour Party primaries and was qualified to contest.
The Court held that the Appellants lacked standing to question the LP candidate’s emergence, having not contested in the primaries or being party members as they canvaseesd in Issue 4.
On Issues 5 and 6, focusing on non-compliance, were considered together. Evidence from certain witnesses was expunged for incompetence. The Court held that the Appellants failed to link their documentary evidence to specific parts of their case and noted that the BVAS Report was not properly demonstrated.
The Appeal Court concluded that the appeals failed and dismissed it accordingly.
The Appeal Court went further to describe the appeals as a huge joke in what qualifies as a “Notable Pronouncement” having regard to the meagre votes the appellants polled and their attempt to outstage other candidates who scored substantially higher votes.
The court said it finds that such can only happen in a comedy skit and should not be brought. to a democratic setting. It quoted Abraham Lincoln and traced the concept of democracy from its place birth of Greece as the will of the majority, declaring that the majority of the Abia electorate clearly voted Alex Otti as Governor.
The Court therefore dismissed the appeals with costs.
