Governor Alex Otti of Abia State has been returned unopposed as the governorship flagbearer of the Labour Party (LP) in the State.
Sunday Telegraph reports that Otti emerged alongside Senators Enyinnaya Abaribe, Abia South, Darlington Nwokocha, Abia Central and Chief Ogba Onuoha (Bourdex), Abia North.
Also, all the serving LP House of Representatives members, including Ikwuano, Umuahia North/South, Hon Obi Aguocha, Isuikwuato/ Umunneochi, Hon Amobi Ogah, Arochukwu/Ohafia, Hon Ibe Okwara Osonwa, Isialangwa North/South, and Hon Ginger Onwusibe.
Hon. Alex Mascot and Desmond Anyaso were elected to represent Aba North/South and Bende federal Constituencies, while Ugochukwu Adịnigwe and Wambu Chiemela were elected to represent Ukwa East/West and Obingwa/Osisioma/Ugwunagbo, respectively.
Also, all the LP State House of Assembly members were returned, while other constituencies without serving LP members had new candidates elected.
Governor Otti emerged as the gubernatorial candidate with a total of 368,230 votes.
Speaking at the International Conference Centre, Umuahia, venue of the State Collation Centre, after being declared as the Governorship candidate by the National Organising Secretary of the Labour Party and Returning Officer of the primary elections in Abia State, Otti said that having been elected as a candidate, the challenge of fighting to win elections has just started.
“I would like to accept this nomination. And I accept it because we know that we still have a lot collectively to deliver, to Abians, and of course, to Nigeria. I also want to call our attention to the fact that the job has just started. This takes you to where you need to start fighting from.
“If you were not a candidate, then you can’t fight. But now that you are a candidate, you know, the election is contested. You have to contend with yourself. Don’t kid yourself into saying no fight. It’s a contention. At the end of the day, the best person must win. And it’s only one person who will win.
“So, a lot of our candidates have already done elections before and won those elections. So, you are going to actually do better. If you look at the number of people who came out for the primaries, you will find that it was twice the total number of votes that we got the last time.
“And this is just the Labour Party. There are a lot of people who don’t belong to parties who you need to now go out and talk to and convince them to either join the party or at least vote for members of the party”.
The Governor appreciated to he officials, members of the primary election committee and the INEC monitoring team for the rancour-free exercise.
