Tribunal Grants Abia LP Permission to Inspect INEC Materials

The Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Umuahia today granted the prayers of the Labour Party and Abia State governor-elect, Alex Otti, to jointly inspect the election materials with the Peoples Democratic Party.

The court further directed that the Independent National Electoral Commission should avail the Labour Party the Certified True Copy of all governorship nominations from the late Prof. Uche Ikonne to Okey Ahiwe.

This would include official correspondences between the PDP and INEC on the nomination of the party’s Abia deputy governorship candidate(s).

The tribunal had earlier granted the prayers of the PDP and its candidate for the inspection of the materials used in the governorship election.

The PDP and its candidate had approached the governorship tribunal to challenge the declaration of the LP candidate, Otti, as the winner of the governorship election, an action many analysts have described as bizarre going by the overwhelming victory of the LP candidate at the polls.

Otti, whose victory drew unprecedented celebration across the state, was declared and returned as the winner of the election, almost four days after the election was concluded due to a stalemate.

This follows claims of violence and intimidation against INEC staff and Labour Party collation agents.