JUST IN: COURT INVALIDATES ALL LP CANDIDATES IN ABIA, KANO, INCLUDING NEWLY ELECTED ABIA STATE GOVERNOR ALEX OTTI.

The election of Dr. Alex Otti, the newly elected governor of Abia State, as well as all other Labour Party candidates in the states of Abia and Kano, has been declared invalid by a Federal High Court sitting in Kano.

On Friday, May 19, the court, headed over by Justice M N Yunusa, decided that their ascension was not in accordance with the terms of the 2022 Electoral Act.

In Suit No. FHC/KN/CS/107/2023 brought by Mr. Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim against the Labour Party and the INEC, the court found that the procedure was invalidated because the Labour Party failed to provide the INEC with a membership register within 30 days of the primaries.

The Judge held that the votes given to the first defendant were squandered because “the party that has not complied with the provisions of the electoral act cannot be said to have a candidate in an election and cannot be declared winner of an election.”