Cross River guber poll: Appeal Court affirms Gov Otu’s victory

The Appeal Court sitting in Lagos on Wednesday affirmed the election of Bassey Otu as the governor of Cross River State.

The appellate court affirmed the decision of the Election Petition Tribunal of September 26 which upheld the election of Otu, of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and his deputy, Peter Odey.

Otu was declared winner of the governorship poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, having polled a total of 258,619 votes winning in 15 of the 18 local governments of the state, to defeat his closest rival, Senator Sandy Onor of the PDP, who polled 179,636 votes.

Expressing happiness at the confirmation of his victory, Otu expressed a hand of fellowship to his main challenger, Onor.

The governor said he was confident of the outcome of the appeal, knowing that the electorate had massively voted for him during the March 18 governorship election.

Otu promised to serve the state and move forward with his People First Agenda.

He urged the opposition to accept the verdict in good faith and join hands with his administration in moving the state forward.

“The ruling of the Court of Appeal today is a welcome development and affirms that we were overwhelmingly voted in by the people on March 18, 2023.

“This ruling should bring an end to litigation on the outcome of the governorship election.

“For those in the opposition, especially my brother, Prof. Sandy Onor, I once again offer you a hand of friendship. Come and join my administration so that together we can move our state forward and bring about the dividends of democracy.”