APGA’s Alex Otti files 30 grounds of appeal over Abia governorship tribunal ruling

Candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the April
governorship election in Abia state, Alex Otti, on Wednesday, filed his Notice
of Appeal against the Judgment of the Abia State Governorship Election
Petition Tribunal delivered on the 3rd day of November 2015.

Otti’s 30 grounds of appeal signed by his lead counsel, Akin Olujinmi (SAN), is
seeking to set aside the entire tribunal judgment except portions favourable
to him.
Joined as respondents in the appeal are Abia Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu, his party,
the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as well as the Independent National
Electoral Commission (INEC).
Otti contended that the three-man election petition tribunal comprising of
Honourable Justices Usman Bwala, Ekerete A. Abienyie and O. I. Ogunyemi
erred in law when they failed to set aside the return of Ikpeazu as winner of
the election despite the fact that “the purported election held in the 3 local
government of Osisioma Ngwa, Isiala Ngwa and Obingwa on the 11th of April
2015 had been cancelled and no new election was held in the three local
governments areas.”
According to Otti, the holding of the tribunal that a re-run was held in the
affected LGAs in which he participated was wrong because no rerun was ever
ordered by INEC and none was held in respect of the cancelled 3 local
government areas rather, “a supplementary election was held in several polling
units spread across 9 local governments of Abia State which did not include
Obingwa and only a single unit in Isiala Ngwa North.”
Otti also wondered why rather than give full effect to the value of the
Permanent Voter’s Card and the Card Reader Report vis a vis over voting in
the complained 3 local governments, the tribunal merely stated that “using of
card reader is not the only means of accreditation”. He concluded that the
judgment of the Tribunal was against the weight of the evidence that was
adduced before the Tribunal.
Speaking to reporters, one of Otti’s counsels, Nwala Chukwudi Oracle, said
that on so many areas, the Learned Tribunal erred both in law and fact and
consequently misdirected itself which eventually led to substantial miscarriage
of justice.
Oracle however stated that Dr. Alex Otti has confidence in the ability of the
Judiciary to assuage the yearning desire for justice by the people of Abia
State.
“We have impeccable grounds of appeal deriving from the cancelled results of
Obingwa, Osisioma and Isiala Ngwa North, multiple signing of result sheets by
one individual to the issues around card reader, computation of results,
accreditation of voters, evaluation of evidence and so many others,” he said.