The Governor of Abia State, Okezie Ikpeazu has congratulated the Labour Party candidate and winner of the March 18 governorship election in the state, Alex Otti.

The incumbent, in a statement shortly after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), declared Otti as the winner of the poll, said the Labour Party candidate fought a long battle over a very long period and should be commended for his staying power and resilience.

The governor and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) also urged all Otti’s opponents including his party’s candidate, Okey Ahiwe not to distract the incoming governor with court cases.

Otti trounced his main rivals like PDP’s Ahiwe and Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples Party (YPP). Otti scored 175,467, Ahiwe polled 88,529 and Nwafor got 28,972. The LP candidate also won 10 of the 17 local government areas in the state, PDP got six while the YPP got one.

Otti won on his third attempt. He was the candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the 2015 and 2019 elections.