…APC wins 15 states, PDP 9, NNPP 1, LP 1
In what can be considered as historic and the last man standing for the Labour Party (LP) in the South East, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the governorship candidate of the LP, Alex Otti, as the winner of the March 18 governorship election in Abia State.
Otti trounced his two other opponents, Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples Party (YPP).
The Governor-elect scored 175,467 votes to defeat Ahiwe who polled 88,529 while 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 won in only one LG.
The Returning Officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state, Prof Nnenna Nnannaya-Oti, declared Otti as the winner on Wednesday evening at the resumption of the final collation of governorship election results in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, over 48 hours after INEC suspended the exercise in the South-East state.
Declaring Otti as winner, Prof Nnannaya-Oti, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of Federal University of Technology, Owerri, said, “That Otti Alex Chioma of Labour Party, having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner of the election.”
The last time the LP produced a governor in the last 20 years was when Olusegun Mimiko was elected as Ondo State governor from February 2009 to February 2017.
Before the announcement Otti as governor-elect, Nnannaya-Oti said she will do the right for the people and protect democratic values.
She said, “I shall stand squarely and unapologetically on these principles. The people’s votes and mandate shall stand.
“The pastor and the mother in me will not permit me to do anything that will adversely affect the future of our children.”
As it stands, the results of 26 of the 28 governorship elections have been announced. APC won in 15 states, PDP in nine, LP in one while the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) won in one state – Kano.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) won in 15 states, including seven re-elected governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Mai Mala Muni (Yobe), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa) and Babagana Zulum (Borno).
The APC also secured wins for eight new candidates: Umar Namadi (Jigawa), Ahmed Aliyu (Sokoto), Dikko Radda (Katsina), Uba Sani (Kaduna), Bassey Otu (Cross River), Mohammed Bago (Niger), Hyacinth Alia (Benue), and Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi).
On the other hand, the PDP secured nine victories including two reelected governors: Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Bala Mohammed (Bauchi).
Seven first-term governors were also elected on the platform of the opposition PDP. They are Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Siminialayi Fubara (Rivers), Kefas Agbu (Taraba), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta) and Peter Mbah (Enugu).
In a historic win, PDP’s Dauda Lawal unseated Zamfara State Governor and APC powerbroker in Zamfara, Bello Matawalle.
The NNPP also caused upset in Kano as its governorship candidate, Abba Kabir unseated the ruling APC in Kano State.
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