Two witnesses brought by High Chief Ikechi Emenike, the guber candidate of All Progressive Congress, APC in the March 18 guber contest have told the Abia Stare election tribunal that Governor Alex Otti did not resign from his former party, APC before joining LP. The witnesses are Mr Friday Ugorji, who claimed to be the Chairman of APC Ward 5 Isiala Ngwa South LGA of Abia State which is Otti’s constituency.
Another witness, Engr Alozie Macsolomo, said that he is the director of records and documentation. The two witnesses, who appeared before the tribunal, alleged that Governor Alex Otti did not submit his letter of resignation from the APC before quitting the broom party. In his words, Friday Ugorji who is PW2 at the tribunal claimed that “Alex Otti left APC without due process and did not submit any resignation letter.” Engr Alozie Macsolomo who testified as PW3 also told the tribunal that Otti never resigned from the APC before heading to LP.
He maintained that the Governor did not follow the directives of the Electoral Act before contesting the 2023 Abia governorship. However, the Special Adviser to the Abia Governor on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma has dismissed the claims, saying that Otti duly resigned from APC before he joined LP and eventually won the polls. He blamed the PDP and APC of allegedly sponsoring impostors to come and pose as genuine APC members.
“The attention of the Governor of Abia state has been drawn to the ridiculous report being sponsored and circulated by some wailing opposition politicians who are at the tribunal to challenge his victory, alleging that the Governor did not resign his membership of the All Progress Congress (APC) before joining Labour Party, on whose platform he contested and won the March 18 Governorship election.
“We had chosen to ignore the peddlers of the false and unfounded report because of our resolve to ignore cheap distractions and face the business of governance squarely, coupled with our informed understanding that media razzmatazz, self-serving fabrications and propaganda do not win a case in court, especially for unpopular candidates with incurable baggage, however, on realising that our silence is causing unnecessary panic amongst some of our innocent members, we therefore wish to clear the air by stating as follows: He continued, “Governor Alex Otti duly resigned his membership of the APC at his ward in line with the provisions of the Constitution before joining the Labour Party.
His resignation letter was duly received and acknowledged by the then ward Chairman who prior to that time was recognized at all levels as the Ward Chairman.” “The individual being paraded by the defeated APC Governorship candidate Chief Ikechi Emenike as the APC Chairman of Ward 5 Isialangwa South LGA is an impostor hired to do a failed dirty job, so he and his paymasters should be ignored. ”
“The very unpopular and roundly defeated APC and PDP candidates have realized how terribly bad their cases in court are, having failed woefully to prove that they even stood a chance of winning the Governorship election, have now resorted to disinformation and mischief while hoping to actualize the impossible mission of stealing the people’s mandate through the back door.” The media aide reassured Abians that the mandate given Otti is safe and secure and can never be stolen by those whom he accused of merchandising politics for personal gains.