An Appeal Court sitting in Lagos State in a unanimous decision on Saturday, affirmed the victory of Abia State Governor, Alex Otti at the polls, adding that it conformed with the provisions of the Electoral Act.
The court dismissed the appeals lodged by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) and their governorship candidates against Otti’s victory.
The court deemed their petitions lacking merit, describing them as “a comedy skit brought to a democratic setting.”
Additionally, the court held that issues of political party membership are pre-election matters, falling within the jurisdiction of the political party.
The appellate court also held that since Mr Otti joined the Labour Party, won its primary election and submitted his name to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), he was qualified to contest.
While ruling on the issues of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) brought by the PDP and its candidate, the Appeal Court said that they failed to prove or link their documentary evidence to the specific parts of the case.