In an appeal filed by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Okey Ahiwe, their candidate for governor, contesting the election of Abia State’s governor, Alex Otti, the Supreme Court has deferred ruling.
Following the conclusion of the parties’ last arguments, a five-member panel of judges led by Inyang Okoro reserved the verdict on Wednesday, as stated in a statement provided to PREMIUM TIMES by Kazie Uko, Governor Otti’s spokesperson.
Abubakar Malami, SAN, the former Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, oversaw the PDP’s legal team.
However, Uche Ihediuwa, a SAN and a member of the PDP’s legal team, made the presentation of the party’s views.
Presenting the PDP’s case, Mr. Ihediuwa claimed that Mr. Ahiwe had been under-represented by more than 84,000 votes when the results of the governorship race were tallied.
The attorney said the PDP agent was driven out of the collation center and as a result was not entitled to the legally mandated copy of the results.
He asserted that in order to view the result sheets and learn about the alleged malpractices, Mr. Ahiwe had to speak with representatives of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
However, John Owonikoko, SAN, the head of Governor Otti’s legal team, requested that the Supreme Court reject the appeal due to lack of merit.
Mr. Owonikoko told the court that Mr. Otti won the governorship race on March 18, 2023, with over 174,000 votes,
