Orji threatens to drag Otti to court over comment at declaration ground

The senator representing the people of Abia Central District in the Senate and immediate past governor of Abia State, Chief Theodore Ahamefule Orji has threatened to drag 2015 Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Dr. Alex Otti to court. This is even as Orji denied allegedly coercing the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) under gun point to doctor the result of the 2015 Abia governorship poll in favour of the incumbent Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu.

Orji was reacting to an allegation attributed to Otti at Ngwa High School playfield in Aba, the commercial nerve of the state while officially declaring his intention to contest the 2019 gubernatorial seat under APGA.

The Senator who spoke to journalists in Umuahia, the Abia State capital through his Liaison Officer, Ifeanyi Umere said the 2015 APGA guber candidate lied and had only resorted to cheap blackmail he (Otti) lost out at the poll in 2015.

According to Umere, Orji would not hesitate to initiate legal action against Otti if he failed to retract the claims.

Umere explained that contrary to the allegation, Orji at no time stormed the INEC office and forced the REC under gun point to declare a false result.

According to Liaison Officer, Orji only went to protest the action of the State Returning Officer who rashly cancelled results from Obingwa and Osisioma LGA after they had been declared by the respective Returning Officers at the councils.

He argued that as a former Administrative Secretary of the electoral umpire, Orji was fully aware that it was only the court and not a Returning Officer that had the powers to nullify an already declared result(s).

The senator said he only went to INEC to remind the REC of the illegality of the State Returning Officer’s action after which she cleared from INEC headquarters Abuja which also faulted the action and directed that the error be corrected.

He said it would be wrong for Otti or anybody to assume that his mission at the INEC office amounted to intimidating the electoral body to altar the outcome of the poll in favour of his preferred candidate.

Orji said he had already directed his legal team to analyze the claims by Otti and take necessary legal actions.

He warned politicians to desist from bitter politics and campaign of calumny and focus on issues instead of running down their opponents using falsehood.