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The governorship election petition tribunal in Abia State has fixed the 6th of October for judgement in the petition challenging Governor Alex Otti’s victory in the governorship election in the state which was held on the 18th of March.
The Eastern Updates gathered that the tribunal arrived at the date after all the parties had adopted their final written addresses in the petition.
Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Otti as the winner of the election having polled 175,467 votes to defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Okey Ahiwe, who scored 88,529 votes in the exercise.
The Young Progressives Party (YPP) candidate, Ehinaya Nwafor, got 28,972 votes.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Chief Ikechi Emenike, had approached the tribunal to nullify Otti’s victory in the election on the ground that he was qualified to take part in the exercise.
Read Also: Tribunal Reserves Judgment In Ebonyi South Senatorial Petition
He alleged that the governor’s name was not in the Labour Party register before he was nominated as the party’s governorship candidate in the state
Ahiwe and Nwafor were also joined in the petition.
Meanwhile, Governor Otti’s request for a virement totalling ₦22.2 billion for government services has been approved by the Abia State House of Assembly, The Eastern Updates can confirm.
This came following the consideration of the governor’s letter presented by the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly, Mr. Austin Mmeregini, at the plenary in Umuahia on Tuesday.
The House Majority Leader, Uchenna Kalu, had in a motion called on the lawmakers to consider the request.
He said the request was necessitated by the present administration’s desire to rebuild the state and improve the citizens’ welfare.
