Abia State Governor-elect, Dr Alex Otti, has urged the people of the state to disregard his purported sack by a Federal High Court sitting in Kano.
Otti, who spoke through his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, at a press briefing in Umuahia, the Abia State capital on Friday, May 19, described the judgement of the court as “baseless, unfounded, and misleading”.
He also described the process as a “legal coup”, adding that the “perpetrators were not courageous enough to confront Otti in the open.
“Otti was never joined as a party for fear that his eminently qualified lawyers would take the perpetrators to the cleaners,” Ekeoma added.
The Governor-elect’s aide said the court did not issue any order on candidates of the Labour Party (LP) in Abia State or Otti “because it was conscious of its powers and careful not to fall into the booby trap set for it by the perpetrators”.
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“The court specifically stated in Clause 9 of the judgement that the candidates that participated in the election in Abia are not parties before this court and as such the court lacks the jurisdiction to make an order for the issuance of Certificate of Return to them.
“The Federal High Court in Abia had entertained similar cases as pre-election matters involving some PDP candidates versus LP candidates, and the matters were adjudicated upon to the Supreme Court.
“In all the cases, LP won at the Federal High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court.
“The case brought by the petitioners is a pre-election matter and under Section 285(14)(a) of the Electoral Act, the petitioners have no locus standi as they were not aspirants in LP,” he said
He further stated that the court in Kano lacked jurisdiction over Abia State, saying it was impossible for any decision emanating from it to have effect on Otti.
Ekeoma urged the people of Abia State not to panic, saying: “Otti in the next few days will be sworn in as governor to enable him to commence the process of rebuilding the state.”
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