By Ladi Jossy

The governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Abia, Dr. Alex Otti, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to resist upturning the March 18 governorship election, which gave him and his party victory, despite the antics of the state government.

He made the plea on Tuesday in Abuja at a media briefing on the contentious election, which results collation had been suspended by INEC, alongside that of Enugu State, over pockets of violence in both states.

According to him, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) knowing that the LP was winning attempted to use the Isiala-Ngwa North and Obingwa local governments’ results collation, but were resisted by LP agent and the electorates, which made the PDP and the state government to unleash hoodlums on the people.

He also asked INEC to immediately declare him as the winner of Saturday’s election in the state.

According to him, results so far collated in 16 of the 17 Local Government Areas of the state clearly show that he won the election.

“Having secured about 172,000 votes against PDP’s 71,000 votes in the 16 LGAs, there was no way the ruling party could torpedo our victory using falsified results from the last LGA, which according to him has less than 30,000 registered voters,” Otti said.

He urged the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, and the commission’s management to do the needful by ensuring that whatever decision they reach after their ongoing review of results from Obingwa LGA reflects the will of the people.

He also warned that the electoral commission must not allow itself to be used as a tool to subvert the will of the people, stressing that it was clear that he won the majority of votes cast by the people of Abia and not to change the rules in the middle of the game but to stick with the BVAS and the results as voted by the people of Abia.