says INEC should declare result in accordance with section 47 of electoral Act
By: Òsárétín Òsádébàmwén – Abuja
The candidate of Labour Party for Abia State gubernatorial election, Dr. Alex Otti, has declared that the victory of the party in the state cannot be overturned no matter the alleged manipulation on the Obingwa axis result.
He said this at a press conference in Abuja where he pointed out that the Bimodal Voter Authentication System (BVAS) has exposed the true voting strength of the Obingwa axis as lower than 30,000 voters.
He argued that with the comfortable lead of the LP in the race, and the reality of under 30,000 registered voters in Obingwa, certainly the figure cannot change the victory of the party.
He, therefore, called on the people of Abia State to remain calm and assured them that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was reviewing the result from the Obingwa axis where they manufactured over 80,000 figures while the total votes for the two lawmakers into the Abia state Assembly from the area are under 30,000.
According to him, “I will like to use this opportunity to call in Abia people to remain peaceful and calm. 16 local governments have been collated out of the 17 local councils in the state.
“The votes, the Labour party has gotten out of the 16 local governments is over 171,000. That of PDP is less than 80,000. So anyhow you flip and dice it.
“Even the number the number they have written that does not have the support of the law, cannot torpedo the our victory
“It is also important to say that, we believe that INEC will do the right thing.
“All the other local governments that has been declared used the BVAS machine for accreditation, it is our firm belief that INEC will not change the rules in the middle of the race.
“We are calling on our people in the Labour Party and Abia people to remain calm and wait on INEC to review the result.
“The other important thing is that we are also thanking INEC, like we have always said the BVAS is a game changer, particularly if there is the will to use it.
“What has happened this time around, is that the BVAS has demystified Obingwa Local government in Abia state.
“You will recall that in 2015, when I contested for the first time, it produced 82,000 votes from Obingwa. To upturn the victory that Abia People give us.
“This time around, they want to do the same thing but the BVAS has proved that there was no more than 30,000 votes. That was what we also proved in 2015 that led to our victory at the court of Appeal.”
He commended his competitors who have called to congratulate himnon the victory and called on INEC to release the result of the March 18 Guber election in The state.
He commended the Guber candidate who competed with him and have sent congratulatory messages to him. Professor Creg Ibe, the candidate of APGA got a letter from Emeka Nwakoa Accord Party, another form Chie Bon of AAC.
Otti called on INEC to ensure that only results from the BVAS as provided in section 47 of the electoral Act are acceptable.
Section 47 of the Electoral Act, 2022 as amended states that: “A person intending to vote in an election shall present himself with his voter’s card to a Presiding officer for accreditation at the polling unit in the constituency in which his name is registered.
“To vote, the presiding officer shall use a smart card reader or any other technological device that may be prescribed by the Commission, for the accreditation of voters, to verify, confirm or authenticate the particulars of the intending voter in the manner prescribed by the Commission.”
Otti said that “We believe that when that is done, we would be announced, as the winner, of that election.”
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