Governor Otti, who called on his opponents to join him in developing the state, said that litigation costs a lot of money and rather than waste their money on challenging the tribunal’s judgment at the Court of Appeal, they should use the money to develop their dilapidated villages and communities.
Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has asked his political opponents in the 2023 governorship election in the state to shelve the idea of wasting their money to appeal the judgment of the Governorship Election Petition Tribunal which affirmed his victory.
Governor Otti, who called on his opponents to join him in developing the state, said that litigation costs a lot of money and rather than waste their money on challenging the tribunal’s judgment at the Court of Appeal, they should use the money to develop their dilapidated villages and communities.
Recall that the tribunal on Friday dismissed the petition filed by the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Okey Ahiwe, against the election of Governor Otti of the Labour Party (LP) who the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared winner of the March 18 election.
Reacting to the judgment on Saturday, Governor Otti in a statement expressed his gratitude to the residents of the state for their unflinching support and asked his opponents to save themselves the financial burden of appealing the tribunal’s ruling.
The governor said, “My advice to my opponents is that this is a good time to sheathe their swords and join hands with me to develop our state, Abia.
“Anyhow you slice and dice it, it costs a lot of money to engage in litigation.
“While I will not ask them to bring the money to me, I would advise that each of them have villages that are dilapidating, without roads, without water and I believe that their communities will appreciate it if they would channel those resources into building roads in their villages and communities.
“If you follow the election and everything that happened thereafter, you will know that quite frankly, this victory shouldn’t have been contested in the first place, but then, I also do not deny my opponents their rights to go to court.”
Governor Otti while thanking the judges said that “all those who ensured that justice prevailed in the end,” adding that he is committed to improving the living standards of the people of the state.