Finally on Wednesday evening, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced the result of the March 18 governorship election, declaring the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Dr Alex Otti, as governor-elect of Abia State.
Otti defeated his opponents including Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples’ Party (YPP).
Otti scored 175,467, Ahiwe polled 88,529 while Nwafor got 28,972. The LP candidate also won 10 of the 17 local government areas in the state, PDP got six while the YPP got one.
The Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the State, Prof Nnenna Oti declared Otti the winner on Wednesday evening at the resumption of the final collation of governorship election results in Umuahia, the Abia State capital over 48 hours after INEC suspended the exercise in the South-East state.
“That Otti Alex Chioma of Labour Party having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner of the election,” said Nnannaya-Oti, who is the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri.
Otti won at his third attempt. He was the candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the 2015 and 2019 elections.
Before the announcement, Prof Oti had said she will do the right thing for the people and protect democratic values.
“I shall stand squarely and unapologetically on these principles. The people’s votes and mandate shall stand.
“The pastor and the mother in me will not permit me to do anything that will adversely affect the future of our children,” said Nnannaya-Oti, who is the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri.
The distribution of the governorship election results across the 17 LGAs of Abia State is as follows:
(1) Aba North
APC – 487
APGA -1404
APP- 549
LP- 20974
PDP- 4146
YPP- 2296
(2) Aba South
APC – 487
APGA – 1470
LP – 20,974
PDP – 4146
YPP – 2296
(3) Arochukwu
APC -1082
APGA -460
APP- 893
LP- 12689
PDP- 1280
YPP- 410
(4) Bende
APC – 2143
APGA -947
APP- 2733
LP- 9886
PDP- 5410
YPP – 1667
(5) Ikwuano
APC -1198
APGA- 499
APP-515
LP-7054
PDP-2427
YPP-270
(6) Isialangwa North
APC – 838
APGA -225
APP- 78
LP- 7327
PDP- 21741
YPP 18
(7) Isialangwa South
APC – 1580
APGA -366
APP- 134
LP- 7589
PDP- 9093
YPP 1691
(8) Isuikwuato
APC – 872
APGA -3662
APP-
LP- 8228
PDP- 2204
YPP 0
(9) Obingwa
APC – 721
APGA -1445
APP- 192
LP- 3776
PDP- 9926
YPP-3101
(10) Ohafia
APC – 1354
APGA – 945
APP – 1013
LP – 11,848
PDP – 4128
YPP – 667
(11) Osisioma
APC – 504
APGA – 292
APP – 123
LP – 7032
PDP – 4697
YPP – 8839
(12) Ugwunagbor
APC -375
APGA- 398
APP- 514
LP- 2159
PDP- 2538
YPP- 1805
(13) Ukwa East
APC – 560
APGA -646
APP- 890
LP- 2273
PDP- 2329
YPP – 759
(14) Ukwa West
APC – 1209
APGA -830
APP- 699
LP- 2833
PDP- 4622
YPP – 890
(15) Umuahia North
APC – 7225
APGA – 1816
APP – 905
LP – 27668
PDP – 4843
YPP – 2999
(16) Umuahia South
APC – 1398
APGA – 1841
LP – 16,187
PDP – 4564
YPP – 323
APP – 562
(17) Umunneochi
APC – 2034
APGA -581
APP- 699
LP- 5940
PDP- 3198
YPP – 314
