A Federal High Court in Kano has invalidated the candidature of Alex Otti and all Labour Party election candidates in Abia and Kano states for non-compliance with the 2022 electoral act.
The Daily Post is reporting that Justice Yunusa of the Federal High Court in Kano gave the ruling Friday morning.
Alex Otti was the Labour Party candidate for the 2023 Abia Governorship Election who was eventually declared the winner and Governor-Elect of Abia State.
The suit in the court was allegedly brought by one Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim with suit No FHC/KN/CS/107/2023.
Ibrahim took the Labour Party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to the court and alleged that that party failed to submit its membership register to the INEC within 30 days before their primaries.
Justice Yunusa ruled that the Labour Party failed to comply with the provisions of the electoral Act and cannot be said to have a candidate in the election and therefore cannot be declared winner in the case of Alex Otti. The judge referred to any vote cast in favor of Alex Otti as a “wasted vote”.
This is a shocking development which would no doubt be challenged by the Labour Party, which counts Abia State as the only state in which the party’s candidate was declared as the winner at the Governorship level election.
