Emmanuel Ifeanyi 
…Ahiwe reacts, tells supporters not to panic
Abia State Governor and Labour Party (LP) candidate in the March 2023 governorship election on Friday defeated Chief Okey Ahiwe and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the Governorship Election Tribunal sitting in Umuahia.
New Telegraph learnt that the PDP and Ahiwe approached the court demanding the withdrawal of the certificate of return issued to Otti by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) stressing that Otti was never qualified in the first place to run for the election, that he did not get the highest vote cast and that the election was marred by corrupt practices.
The PDP while explaining why Otti was not qualified to participate in the election stressed that he did not participate in any known primary, and did not submit any evidence of membership to INEC which completely means that he was not a member of LP before and during the election and therefore was not supposed to be sponsored by LP.
The PDP equally on the qualification point petitioned the court seeking the withdrawal of Otti’s certificate of return, alleging that he did not submit a piece of legally acceptable evidence that he duly participated in the one-year compulsory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).
Another top ground of the petition by the PDP is that Otti was not duly elected by the majority of votes cast at the end of the governorship.
The PDP equally stressed that there were all manner of corrupt, sharp practices, overvoting and noncompliance with the Electoral Act by INEC during the election.
The ruling, the Tribunal led by Justice HTD Gwadah said that such issues about primary and nomination of candidates are internal affairs of the party and that the Tribunal lacks jurisdiction to entertain such.
On NYSC, the court said that no evidence was provided as pleading isn’t evidence. The court said that the lack of evidence on that makes the petition not hold any issue. The court re-emphasized that only evidence brought on pleaded fact stands. NYSC is not a qualifying or a disqualifying factor.
On the issue of overvoting, the court made it clear that he who alleges must prove, stressing that no evidence was shown by the PDP for noncompliance by INEC as all exhibits never proved the allegation as claimed by the PDP.
The Court further said that the PDP did not prove the case of overvoting as required by the law in all the polling units they alleged that such a case took place.
The allegation by the PDP that results of Obingwa Local Government were taken to Abuja and doctored, the court said that no evidence of such was shown as the petitioners were unable to prove their allegation.
All three major issues contained in the petition brought by Ahiwe and the PDP were ruled in the favour of Otti and the LP and dismissed for lack of merit.
Reacting to the judgement, one of the lead Councils of the PDP, Chukwuemeka Nwaogu said that the trial tribunal has discharged its duties in accordance with the law, stressing that they need to be availed copies of the Judgement so that they can take look at several rulings delivered to enable them to study them properly and know the next constitutional steps to take.
He said that naturally, they may have reasons to disagree with some views of the tribunal, but reiterated that they cannot comment on any ground of dissatisfaction now because they are yet to get a copy of the judgement that will arm them with such information.
In his reaction, the Abia State PDP governorship candidate in the 2023 governorship elections, Chief Okey Ahiwe expressed profound appreciation to his numerous supporters, his legal team, family, friends and associates, emphasising that “there is no cause for alarm regarding the Tribunal verdict as truth and justice will ultimately triumph.”
Ahiwe who spoke through his statement by Victor Nwokocha, his Media Adviser, said that he has confidence in the Judiciary, stressing that his legal team would thoroughly examine the judgment of the Tribunal and advise accordingly on the next line of action.
He called on his teaming supporters to remain calm and law-abiding, assuring that, following due consultations with his legal team and leadership of PDP, he would keep them informed on the direction to take.
