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The suspended collation of the Abia State governorship election result will resume by 4pm on Wednesday.
As against reports that the exercise had been shifted to Abuja, Daily Trust understands that the collation will continue at the Abia headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Umuahia.
An official of the commission said the Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO), Prof. Nnenna Oti; and the State Administrative Secretary, Clement Oha, who were invited to the INEC headquarters Abuja, over the controversy from Obingwa results, were on their way back to the state, to complete the process.
The governorship candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in Abia, Dr. Alex Otti, had urged the INEC to resist upturning the March 18 governorship election, claiming that his party secured victory.
He made the plea on Tuesday in Abuja at a media briefing on the contentious election, which results collation had been suspended by INEC, alongside that of Enugu State, over pockets of violence in parts of both states.
According to him, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) knowing that the LP was winning attempted to use the Isiala-Ngwa North and Obingwa local governments results collation, but were resisted by LP agent and the electorates, which made the PDP and the state government to unleash hoodlums on the people.
He also asked INEC to immediately declare him as the winner of Saturday’s election in the interest of fairness and justice.
According to him, results so far collated in 16 of the 17 Local Government Areas of the state clearly show that he has won.
