The All Progressives Congress (APC) is cementing its ruling party status in the country with massive wins in more than half of the states in Nigeria in the governorship elections.
According to results announced so far, the APC won in 19 states and was leading in Plateau and Kebbi states. The ruling party now to become opposition, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), however, won in Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Gombe and Enugu.
While it lost the governorship seat in Lagos, the PDP won six seats in the Lagos State House of Assembly for the first time ever.
Senator Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, yesterday, broke the re-election jinx like he vowed last year. Since 1983, no governor has ever been re-elected in the state.
The APC won the governorship elections in Kaduna, Sokoto, Niger, Borno, Adamawa, Lagos, Kwara, Katsina, Bauchi, Kano, Yobe, Zamfara, Oyo, Ogun, Benue, Nasarawa, Jigawa and Benue States.
Yesterday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) released results of the governorship and House of Assembly elections held on Saturday, with the All Progressives Congress (APC) winning in majority of the states.
At press time, from the results released by the INEC, the APC had already won 14 out of 29 states where governorship elections held on Saturday.
In the poll, which was largely peaceful across the nation, the APC created upsets in states traditionally controlled by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) since 1999.
Such states include Kaduna, Niger, Adamawa, Benue and Bauchi.
For the PDP, apart from Imo, it literally had a smooth sail in the South-East and South-South, winning in Enugu, Ebonyi, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Rivers. The party also won in Gombe and Taraba states.
Ogun
In the ‘Gateway State’, Governor Ibikunle Amosun was re-elected for a second term in office.
The INEC Returning Officer for the state, Prof. Duro Oni, declared him winner of the April 11 governorship election having polled 306,988 out of 555,430 total valid votes cast in the state.
With Amosun’s victory, the hope of the people of Ogun West to produce a governor of the state for the first time has once again been dashed. The district remains the only section that has yet to produce a governor for the state since its creation over 38 years ago.
The governorship candidate of the PDP, Gboyega Isiaka, who came second behind Amosun with 201,440 votes, hails from Imeko in the Ogun West Senatorial District of the state.
Declaring Amosun as the duly elected governor of the state, the INEC returning officer, who is also the deputy vice chancellor of the University of Lagos, said the APC standard bearer beat 15 other governorship candidates to emerge the overall winner of the poll.
Oni also said the election did not hold in nine polling units spread across three local government areas of Odeda, Ogun Waterside and Sagamu.
Katsina
The APC gubernatorial candidate in Katsina State, Aminu Masari, won in all the 33 constituencies so far declared at press time yesterday out of the 34 in the state.
The collation of the votes was deferred from 1pm till 3pm because the result of Fasakri Local Government Area was still being awaited.
However, results so far declared showed that APC polled 613,132 votes as against 457,903 by the PDP in the election.
A breakdown of the result revealed that the President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, delivered his home constituency, Daura, with ease while Governor Ibrahim Shema lost in his Dutsin-ma constituency.
Similarly, the governorship candidate of APC, Masari, won in his home constituency, Kafur, while his PDP counterpart, Musa Nashuni, lost in Kankia.
Investigations revealed that though the governorship and assembly elections were generally peaceful in most local government areas, they were characterised by violence in some areas.
The worst hit area was Danmusa Local Government Area, where the results of 10 out of the 11 wards in the constituency were cancelled due to violence.
Kaduna
Former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Nasir El- Rufa’i, of the APC won the election.
According to the INEC in Kaduna, El-Rufa’i polled a total of 1,117,635 million votes from across the 23 local government areas of the state.
The INEC Returning Officer for Kaduna State, Prof. Ja’afaru Kaura, who announced the result, said El- Rufa’i defeated his main opponent, the PDP candidate, who is also the incumbent governor, Mukhtar Yero, who polled a total of 485,833 votes. Yero had earlier in a telephone conversation with El-Rufa’i and special radio broadcast conceded defeat and congratulated the winner.
Meanwhile, there was jubilation among APC supporters across the state as soon as the result was announced, with youths taking over major streets in Kaduna metropolis, singing and dancing.
Enugu
In the coal City state, the PDP candidate, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, was declared the winner in the election which he won overwhelmingly.
INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Hilary Edoga, who declared the result at the commission’s office in Enugu, said Ugwuanyi fulfilled all the requirements of the law to be pronounced the winner of the governorship election in the state.
Ugwuanyi polled a total of 482,277 votes out of the total 538,752 valid votes cast to beat the APC candidate, Chief Okey Ezea, who scored 43,839 votes.
Former governor Chimaroke Nnamani’s party, PDC came third with 4,813, while APGA took the fourth position with 3,343 votes.
The state chapter of the PDP in a statement signed by its Publicity Secretary, Dr. Okey Eze, congratulated Ugwuanyi and all its candidates at the election, saying they had successfully won and overwhelmingly too.
The Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu, congratulated Ugwuanyi on his victory, saying his victory was very much expected as the PDP was not only the party on ground in Enugu, but also going by his overwhelming popularity across the state.
Gombe
Governor Hassan Dankwambo of Gombe won re-election on the platform of the PDP. He won with 285,369 to defeat the APC candidate, Inuwa Yahaya, who got 205,132 votes, according to the Returning Officer, Prof. Saminu Ibrahim.
Oyo
For the first time since Oyo State was created on March 17, 1976, the incumbent governor of the state, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has become the first civilian governor to be re-elected for a second term in office.
Besides, it was jubilation galore in many parts of the state, especially within the camp of the APC, when Ajimobi emerged the winner of the keenly contested election.
He was returned winner of the governorship election having polled a total of 327,310 votes.
The Returning Officer for the state, Prof. Ayobami Salami, who is the deputy vice Chancellor (Academics), Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, announced that he defeated his closest rival, Senator Rashidi Ladoja of the Accord Party, who scored 254,520, with 72,790 votes. Ajimobi won in 20 local governments areas, while Ladoja won in seven.
Otunba Adebayo Alao- Akala of the Labour Party (LP) polled a total of 184,111 votes and won in six council areas.
The governorship candidates of the PDP, Teslim Folarin, polled 79,019 votes.
Ebonyi
The PDP governorship candidate, Chief Dave Umahi, was declared winner of Saturday’s election in the state.
Umahi won all the 13 local government areas in the state to emerge winner of the keenly contested election in the state.
The Returning Officer for the governorship election and the Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka (NAU), Prof. Joseph Ahaneku, while declaring the result of the election, said Umahi scored 289, 867 votes to beat his closest rival, Chief Edward Nkwegu of Labour Party, who polled 124, 817 votes. APC candidate, Senator Julius Ucha, scored 27, 583 votes.
Sokoto
The outgoing Speaker, House of Representatives, Alhaji Aminu Tambuwal, won the Sokoto governorship election.
The state Returning Officer and Deputy Vice Chancellor of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Prof. Abdullahi Bagudu, announced the results collated from the 23 local government areas of the state. Prof. Bagudu said out of 926,682 total votes cast, 32, 054 votes were invalidated.
Bagudu stated that out of 958,736 votes cast during the poll, the APC, on which platform Tambuwal contested, scored 6747,609 votes, while the PDP came second with 269, 074 votes.
Lagos
In the Centre of Excellence, the APC has won the tension-soaked April 11 governorship election in the state.
He polled a total of 811, 994 votes to defeat Mr. Jimi Agbaje of the PDP, who scored 659, 788 votes.
The APC governorship candidate won the election in 15 out of the 20 local government areas in the state, while Agbaje won in Ojo, Amuwo Odofin, Ajeromi Ifelodun, Oshodi-Isolo and Surulere local government areas.
The Returning Officer, Prof. Isaac Adewole, who is also the vice chancellor, University of Ibadan, said the APC candidate, having scored the majority of votes cast and scored 25 per cent of votes across the 20 local government areas, was returned as winner of the governorship poll.
Meanwhile, the governorship candidate of the PDP for Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, yesterday evening put a phone call through to Mr. Ambode, the APC candidate, to congratulate him on his victory in Saturday’s contest.
Agbaje made the call at about 6.50pm.
“I just made a phone call to congratulate Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress,” Agbaje said, according to a press statement by the Director of Media and Publicity for the Jimi Agbaje Campaign Organisation, Felix Oboagwina.
Delta
At press time, in the oil-rich state, the PDP governorship candidate, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, won 16 of the 20 local government areas released by INEC, while Chief Great Ogboru of Labour Party clinched four local government areas. Delta State has 25 local governments.
Rivers
The results released at press time by INEC showed that Wike had won 19 out of the the 21 local government areas. A breakdown of the results showed that PDP scored 82,289 in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area, while APC got 26,367.
In Ikwerre Local Government Area, Wike polled 23,511 as against 10,555 votes by APC. In Etche Local Government Area, PDP got 33,954, while APC scored 6,488. The PDP got 31,103 votes in Degema Local Government Area, while APC got 1,244.
Akwa Ibom
In the oil-rich state, the PDP won the gubernatorial election by polling 996,071 votes to beat its closest rival, the APC, which got 89,866 votes.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. James Okpoke, who announced the result, said a total of 1,122,836 votes were cast out of which 12,256 were rejected and 1,110,580 votes valid.
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) fielded the former Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Udom Emmanuel as its candidate while APC fielded yet another former Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Umana Okon Umana as its candidate.
The Accord Party that fielded the former deputy state chairman of PDP, Bishop Sam Akpan, came third with 10,598 votes only, while the current Chairman, Senate Committee on Women Affairs, Mrs. Helen Esuene, who flew the Labour Party flag, came a distant fourth with 8,600 votes. DPP came last with only 10 votes.
Meanwhile, pockets of violence were recorded in major streets of Uyo in the afternoon of Sunday as the results were being relayed on Akwa Ibom Broadcasting Service.
Youths in their hundreds marched through some major streets carrying placards and calling for “free and fair elections.”
Major junctions such as Udo Udoma by Oron Road and Edet Akpan by Oron Road were blocked by the youths, who made bonfires and erected barricades,
They were, however, dispersed by security agents who also cordoned off all access roads to INEC office.
Imo State
Governor Rochas Okorocha and candidate of the APC at press time was coasting to victory, leading his closest rival, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and candidate of the PDP, Emeka Ihedioha. The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate, Captain Emmanuel Ihenacho, came a distant third.
From results already announced by the state Returning Officer, Prof. Oye Ibidapo Obe, Okorocha polled a total votes of 378,752, as against 324,480 polled by Ihedioha.
Okorocha won in 19 local government areas out of the 27 council areas of the state.
However, Ihedioha swept the votes in Ohaji/Egbema, Ngor Okpala, Aboh Mbaise, Ahiazu Mbaise, Oguta, Isiala Mbano and Ezinihitte Mbaise.
But the collation of results was put on hold over vehement disagreement between APC and PDP agents, forcing the returning officer to order for the re-computation of the results in Ezinihitte Mbaise.
Abia
At press time, the result from Abia State was not clear as the PDP and APGA candidates were running neck and neck, having won six local government areas of the state each. The controversial results of Osisioma where the APGA agent, Ahamdi Nweke, alleged that there was no election, caused a stalemate.
An international female observer, from the European Union Election Monitoring Mission, Sheller, supported Nweke’s claim.
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