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The election of Dr. Alex Otti, the incumbent governor of Abia State, and all other candidates for the Labour Party in the states of Abia and Kano has been declared invalid by a Federal High Court sitting in Kano and presided over by Justice M N Yunusa.
Their emergence was determined by the court to be in violation of the terms of the 2022 electoral statute.
On Friday morning, the court's decision was obtained.
The Labour Party's failure to submit its membership register to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, within 30 days before their primaries renders the process invalid, according to the court in Suit No. FHC/KN/CS/107/2023 brought by Mr. Ibrahim Haruna Ibrahim against the Labour Party and INEC.
"The votes awarded to the first defendant are therefore wasted votes, because the party that did not follow the electoral act's requirements cannot be said to have candidates in an election and cannot be declared winner of an election", the judge decided.
