JUST IN: INEC Declares LP’s Alex Otti Abia State Gov-Elect

INEC has declared Alex Otti of the Labour Party (LP), the winner of the March 18 governorship election in Abia State.

Mr Otti trounced his opponents Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples Party (YPP).

iexclusivenews reports that Mr Otti scored 175,467, Ahiwe polled 88,529 while Nwafor got 28,972.

The Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state, Prof Nnenna Nnannaya-Oti, declared Mr Alex 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.

The last time the LP produced a governor in the last 20 years was when Olusegun Mimiko was elected Ondo State governor from February 2009 to February 2017.

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.

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