Following the declaration of the candidate of the Labour Party, Alex Otti, as the winner of the Abia State governorship election, wild jubilation has erupted in the State.
Otti polled a total of 175,466 to defeat his closest rival and candidate of the PDP who scored 88,526.
The Returning Officer, Prof. Nnenna Oti, declared the LP candidate the winner at the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Umuahia, the state capital, after completing the suspended collation of results.
In his acceptance speech, Otti said the “siege is over” and that the votes of the people have “broken the gates of hell.”
He said “With deep humility and a profound sense of responsibility, I wholeheartedly accept your mandate to be your chief servant for the next four years. Before I go on, I must first dedicate this victory to God the Father Almighty, who makes everything beautiful in His own time. I also dedicate it to the millions of Abia citizens who have been the unfortunate victims of bad governance these past decades.
“I want to sincerely thank every Abian and non-indigene alike, who participated in this election. As you are all aware, this was my third attempt at contesting for this office, in my quest to implement my long-held vision of rebuilding Abia State as truly God’s own state.
“At this third attempt, it pleased God to give us victory. In the words of one Labour Party stalwart, ‘The Siege Is Over!’ With our votes and the collective will of the people, we have ‘broken the gates of hell and cast its bars of iron asunder’. As recorded in the holy book, the kingdom of hell shall not prevail against us.
“I want to assure you that your ideas and dreams that are consistent with building a virile Abia state shall come to fruition under my watch. I therefore invite all of you to join hands with our administration in order to serve Abians who have been victims of several years of maladministration and state capture,” he assured.
