The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared former Chairman of Access Bank and candidate of Labour Party, Dr. Alex Otti as governor-elect of Abia State.

Returning Officer for the Governorship Election for Abia State, Professor Nnenna Nnannaya-Oti announced this on Wednesday, March 22, 2023 in Umuahia, Abia State after the conclusion of collation of results for the election.

Prof. Nnannaya-Oti, a Professor of Soil Science and Environmental Conservation, the first female substantive Vice-Chancellor of Federal University of Technology Owerri, Imo State, Nigeria.

According to her, Otti polled 175,467 votes to defeat Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who received 88,529 votes, Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Progressive Party (YPP), who scored a total of 28,972, and Ikechi Emenike of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who got 24,091 votes.

Otti, a renowned economist and banker won 10 of the 17 Local Government Areas in the State while his closest rival, Ahiwe got 6, and YPP took 1.

Recall that the collation of results for the Abia State governorship election was suspended due to incidences of padding of results in Obingwa LGA.

It was learnt that the number of accredited voters outnumbered the votes cast which made the Returning Officer to outrightly reject a further collation of the results of Obingwa LGA.

Reacting to the announcement, Alex Otti expressed his gratitude to the people of Abia State for voting for him and making his victory a reality, pledging to ensure prompt payment of salaries to civil servants and pensions to retirees, as well as project delivery in diverse sectors to boost the economy of the State.

The governor-elect extended his hand of fellowship to his fellow contenders, saying that each of them has what it takes to govern the State going by their track records, while also paying tribute to the party’s fallen heroes and those alive who contributed to his success at the polls.