Even without Peter Obi in the Labour Party, Governor-elect Alex Otti says he would have won the March 18 governorship election in Abia.

Mr Obi defected from the Peoples Democratic Party to join the Labour Party to contest the presidential election.

Mr Otti said he joined the Labour Party before Mr Obi and would have still won the election without the LP’s presidential candidate’s support.

“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, and we didn’t know he would join (the) Labour Party,” Mr Otti said.

The Abia governor-elect stressed, “Peter Obi is a great addition to our campaign, but I can tell you that we won an election before in Abia without him. And since things have gotten worse between 2015 and this time, I believe we would still have won.”

Mr Otti made this statement when asked if he would have won the March 18 governorship election in an interview with Channels TV Thursday night.

Speaking further, Mr Otti acknowledged Mr Obi for joining his campaign, saying the Labour Party presidential flag bearer did well.

“We were prepared to fight the way we fought in 2015. The votes we garnered in Abia could have been had, but maybe the margin could have been smaller. That is why it’s always good to acknowledge Peter Obi,” Mr Otti explained.

The governor-elect added, “He came to Abia about four times to campaign for us. I think he had done well for us.”

He explained “that is why even (in) the first election out of the eight House of Representatives seats, we took six and sent some people on permanent retirement.”

Mr Otti polled 175,467 votes to defeat Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party, who polled 88,529 votes in the March 18 governorship election.