ABIA: DON’T BE SCARED OF RE-RUN, OTTI TELLS PDP

Governorship candidate of All Progres¬sives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, has urged mem¬bers of the Peoples Dem¬ocratic Party (PDP) to accept the cancella¬tion of the governor¬ship poll in the state by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and get ready for a re-run.
Speaking at his cam¬paign office in Umuahia, Otti said he was also dis¬satisfied with how INEC Returning Officer in the state, Professor Benja¬min Ozumba was han¬dling the issue.
He said: “If somebody claims that they were vot¬ed for and had about 82 ,000 votes, they should not be afraid, because the same people that voted them will vote for them again if there is a re-run and they will have the same number of votes or even more.”
The governorship hopeful, however, in¬sisted on the use of card readers for the conduct of the re-run poll as man¬dated by INEC.
“I am very disappoint¬ed that the returning of¬ficer recanted his ground, because a professor of medicine should stand his ground, he should not be intimidated.
“I am also disappoint¬ed that he swallowed his words 45 minutes after making a pronounce¬ment.
“But I am more dis¬appointed that a sitting governor will go and in¬timidate the collation of¬ficer in his state because of election results .
“It is very dishearten¬ing that after mount¬ing undue influence and pressure on electoral of¬ficers, they came and re¬versed themselves before international observers, media men and the world as a whole; they don’t have the right,” he said.
Source: Thisday