Alex Otti, the Abia State governor-elect, on Thursday claimed that he once won a gubernatorial election without the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.

Otti, who spoke when he appeared on Channels Television, insisted that he won the 2015 election that produced Okezie Ikpazu as governor under the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA.

Otti was declared winner of the Saturday March 18 poll on Wednesday. He also revealed that he joined the Labour Party before Peter Obi.

He said, “In 2015 when I ran under APGA, there was no Peter Obi. And we have it on our record that I won that election. At the time we were joining the Labour Party, Peter Obi had not joined.

“It took about a week before he called me and said that he purchased the presidential nomination form and he was coming to the Labour Party,” he said.

Otti, however, acknowledged the former Anambra governor over his influence in the just concluded election, saying Obi “came to Abia about four times to campaign for us.

“Peter Obi is a great addition to our campaign, but I can tell you that we won an election before in Abia without him.”