* Ahead of formal declaration
The All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) governorship candidate in Abia State, Prof Greg Ibe, has acknowledged that his Labour Party (LP) opponent, Dr Alex Otti, won the March 18 election.
The outcome of the election has been a subject of disputation since the results started trickling in from the local government areas to the State Collation Centre in Umuahia, prompting the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to suspend further collation of the results while it resolves the issues in contention among the political parties.
However, Prof Ibe, on Monday, urged Abians to keep the hope alive, while INEC resolves the issues.
In a statement captioned ‘Abians should keep hope alive’, which he personally signed on Monday, the Founder of Gregory University Uturu acknowledged Otti as winner of the election. Thus, Ibe congratulated Otti, arguing that the LP flag bearer has so far garnered sufficient votes to emerge victorious.
Prof Ibe said: “Therefore, ahead of the formal declaration of the official result, I want to congratulate my brother Dr Alex Otti, candidate of the Labour Party, for the consistency so far in the battle to liberate Abia from the shackles of underdevelopment; and well-deserved victory at the polls…”
