Posts
Results released on Sunday by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from the 29 states in which governorship elections were held on Saturday, showed that Governors Abiola Ajimobi, Ibrahim Dankwambo, Ibikunle Amosun and Kashim Shettima of Oyo, Gombe, Ogun and Borno States, trounced their rivals in hard fought contests to win their re-election bids.
Also, victories were recorded by first-timers bidding for governorship posts, comprising the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto); Akinwunmi Ambode (Lagos); former FCT Minister Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna); former House Speaker Aminu Masari (Katsina); and Mohammed Abubakar (Bauchi).
Others who won governorship elections are Deputy Governors Dave Umahi (Ebonyi) and Abdullahi Umar Ganduje (Kano); Prof. Ben Ayade (Cross River) Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi (Enugu); Tanko Al-Makura (Nasarawa), Emmanuel Udom (Akwa Ibom); and Senator Umar Jibrilla Bindow (Adamawa) and Abdulfatah Ahmed (Kwara).
The former Minister of State for Education, Nyeson Wike (Rivers); Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe), Dr. Samuel Ortom (Benue), Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar (Jigawa) and Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger) had built an unassailable lead over their rivals and were coasting to comfortable wins.
Also, Senator Aisha Alhassan, the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Taraba State, was leading Darius Ishaku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by a very narrow margin of 8,748 votes in seven out of the 16 local government areas in the state.
The slim margin, notwithstanding, unofficial results from outstanding local government areas showed that the PDP candidate was expected to win the state.
As at press time, results were being awaited from Kebbi and Zamfara States, where Senator Atiku Bagudu and Abdulaziz Yari, both of the APC, were expected to win.
However, the release of results was suspended in Abia State, when the Returning Officer (RO), Prof. Benjamin Ozumba, who had earlier announced the cancellation of results in three local government areas, changed his mind after pressure was brought to bear on the state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. Selina Oko, by Governor Theodore Orji and the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, among other PDP chieftains.
The PDP candidate, Okezie Ikpeazu’s main rival is the former Diamond Bank Managing Director, Mr. Alex Otti.
The affected local governments in which results were cancelled were Osisioma, Obingwa and Isialangwa North, on the grounds of “incontrovertible violence” in the affected areas.
Similarly, tension enveloped the office of INEC in Plateau State onSunday when Senator Gyang Pwajok of the PDP and Mr. Simon Lalong of APC stormed the venue, with the Commissioner of Police Nasiru Oki in tow, thus suspending the collation of results.
Following their arrival, everyone was sent out of the venue and re-admitted to eliminate intruders.
At the time of the suspension of the release of results in Plateau, results in eight out of the 17 local government areas had been released, with the PDP polling a total of 208,980 against APC’s 161,166.
Meanwhile, the Imo State Returning Officer, Prof. Ibidapo Obe of the Federal University of Technology, Ebonyi, in the wee hours of this morning declared the results in 24 out of 27 local government areas in the state “inconclusive”.
Providing clarification, Obe said he arrived at the decision when widespread irregularities were noticed in the results of the 24 LGs, explaining that the results declared exceeded the total number of registered voters in the affected councils.
Accordingly, supplementary elections will be held in the said councils at a date to be announced by INEC.
He, however, said that the results in three LGs – Owerri Municipal, Ahiazu Mbaise and Ideato South, incumbent Governor Rochas Okorocha’s local government area – remained valid.
With the cancellation of 24 local governments, Okorocha, his rival in the PDP, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha, and Capt. Emmanuel Ihenacho of APGA, would have to go back to the trenches to contest the governorship poll.
Reacting to the development, Okorocha, in an interview with Channels Television, called it a waste of time, stating that he had gone through the same rigmarole in 2011.
THISDAY further learnt that the irregularities in the election results in Imo where unearthed when the Returning Officers for Oru East Local Government Area revealed that they were forced to write results of the council by some leaders of the area in favour of the APC candidate in an abnormal sheet.
According to them, “We met a very volatile environment and since we could not find the ward collation officers, we were forced by the leaders of the area to write results according to their dictates.”
To this end, the party agents of the PDP, APGA, AP, UPP and others protested and rejected the results from particularly the Oru East council. They also demanded the cancellation of other results.
Irrespective of the decision taken on the Imo poll, in Ogun State, Amosun of APC beat the PDP candidate Gboyega Isiaka in 11 out of the 20 LGs in the state, with a total of 306,988 votes while Isiaka, who won nine LGs polled 201,440 votes.
While addressing journalists in Abeokuta, the state capital, Director, Gboyega Nasir Isiaka Campaign Organisation (GNICO), Mr. Ifekayo Akinbode, who spoke on behalf of his candidate declared that results of the gubernatorial election were unfortunate.
Isiaka, who also rejected the outcome of the election, said he would contest the results in the election petition tribunal.
In Oyo, Ajimobi of the APC made history as the first civilian governor of the 39-year-old state to break the second term jinx, which his predecessors like the late Bola Ige, Dr. Omololu Olunloyo, Chief Kolapo Ishola, Alhaji Lam Adesina, Senator Rashidi Ladoja and Mr. Adebayo Alao-Akala failed to break.
Professor Ayobami Salami, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) and the Returning Officer for the state governorship election, said Ajimobi scored 327,310 votes to defeat Ladoja of Accord Party (AP), who polled 254,520 votes and Akala who got 184,111 votes.
However, Senator Teslim Folarin of PDP came a distant fourth with 79,019 votes, while Seyi Makinde of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) secured 54,740 votes.
While Ladoja immediately kicked against the outcome of the election for not reflecting the true wishes of the people of the state, Alao-Akala and Folari congratulated the governor for his victory at the poll.
In Lagos, after a close contest, APC’s Ambode snatched victory from Jimi Agbaje of the PDP by winning 15 out of the 20 councils in the state.
Giving the breakdown, the state’s Returning Officer who is also the Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Prof. Isaac Adewole, said Ambode polled 811,994 votes, beating Agbaje who scored 659,788 votes and conceded defeat by congratulating the new governor-elect.
The margin of victory of 154,206 votes secured by Ambode was a far cry from the over 1 million votes by which Babatunde Fashola trounced Dr. Ade Dosunmu in 2011.
In Kaduna, el-Rufai of the APC won by a landslide by trouncing incumbent Governor Ralman Yero of the PDP. He polled a total of 1,117,635 votes to defeat Yero, who scored 485,833 votes, effectively ending PDP’s 16-year reign in the state.
Spokesman of Kaduna State APC Campaign Council, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, in a statement, disclosed that Yero called El-Rufai at about 3.00 pm on Sunday to congratulate him on his victory.
“He congratulated el-Rufai and wished him success, he prayed for peace and the development of Kaduna State and Nigeria at large. El-Rufai, in his response, thanked Yero and wished him all the best and hoped to see you him soon,” Aruwan said in the statement.
The APC won in 17 out of the 23 local government areas of the state.
Another landslide was recorded in Akwa Ibom, where the PDP candidate Emmanuel Udom, literarily walked over his APC rival Umana Okon Umana.
Another landslide was recorded in Akwa Ibom, where the PDP candidate Emmanuel Udom, literarily walked over his APC rival Umana Okon Umana.
The Returning Officer in the state, Prof. Epoke who is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, said the PDP governorship candidate scored 996,071, winning in 30 local government areas, while APC won in one and its candidate secured 89,865 votes.
However, the outcome of the poll led to protests in Uyo, the state capital, with the Labour Party’s candidate Senator Helen Esuene, among others vowing to challenge the results of the poll.
In Ebonyi, Umahi brushed off the challenge of his closest rival, Edward Nkwegu of LP who was backed by the state governor, Martin Elechi.
Announcing the result in Abakaliki, the state’s Returning Officer and Vice-Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Prof. Joseph Ahaneku, said Umahi scored a total of 289,867 votes to beat Nkwegu, who got 124,817 while the governorship candidate of APC, Senator Julius Ucha, came a distant third with 27,583 votes.
In Sokoto, Tambuwal of APC emerged governor-elect when he defeated his in-law and townsman, Senator Abdullah Wali of the PDP, by garnering 647,609. Wali polled 269, 074 votes, and congratulated Tambuwal for his victory.
With his victory, Tambuwal broke the jinx by former Speakers of the House who had tried unsuccessfully to become governors in their home states.
However, one of Tambuwal’s predecessors, Masari of the APC in Katsina, joined Tambuwal to break the jinx after his second attempt at the Katsina Government House.
Announcing the results in Katsina, the Returning Officer, Prof. Lawal Suleiman, said Masari polled 943,0815 votes to emerge winner after defeating six other candidates. The candidate of the PDP, Mr. Musa Nashuni, scored 476,768 votes.
In Bauchi, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar of the APC scored 654,934 votes to defeat his challenger, Auwal Jatau of PDP who scored 282,650 votes across the 20 local government areas of the state.
Just the same, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed of APC in Kwara State, polled 295,832, while his closest rival, Senator Simeon Sule Ajibola of PDP polled a total votes of 115,220.
In Borno, another incumbent governor and APC candidate, Kashim Shettima, had an unbeatable lead over his rival in the PDP, Gambo Lawan. Shettima last night was leading by a wide margin in 17 of the local government areas for which results had been announced.
In Gombe, Dankwambo was the sole PDP candidate in the North who had won his election as at press time.
He beat Alhaji Inuwa Yahaya of APC by 285,369 votes to 205,132 votes in results released by the Gombe State Returning Officer, Prof. Saminu Ibrahim.
Dankwambo’s win was seen by many in the state as a big blow to the immediate past governor of Gombe and leader of the APC Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje, who was seen as the main force behind Inuwa’s governorship bid.
But whilst PDP held on to Gombe State, it appeared set to suffer another defeat in Niger State where the young Umar Mohammed Nasko was trailing the APC candidate Abubakar Sani Bello in 17 out of 18 LGs. Results from seven LGs were outstanding last night.
Also, the APC candidate in Benue, Ortom, based on results released in six LGs, was leading in four, while Terhemen Tazoor of PDP had won two. Results from 17 LGs were still outstanding.
In Delta, Okowa of the PDP looked set to end the march of the candidates of APC, O’tega Emerhor, and the perennial governorship contestant in the state, Great Ogbou of LP.
Based on the results released in the state, Okowa had an unbeatable lead in 10 out of the 11 LGs while Ogboru won one. Unofficial results from the outstanding 13 LGs, indicate that the PDP candidate is also expected to win.
In Cross River and Enugu, Ayade and Ugwuanyi, both of the PDP beat their APC rivals Odey Ochicha and Okey Ezea, respectively, enabling PDP to retain its 16-year grip on the two states, while in Rivers State, the results of the governorship poll in the state, which was marred by violence, mirrored the presidential election, as Wike of the PDP showed Dakuku Peterside of APC the exit.
However, results from nine wards in six local government areas in which elections were held yesterday had not been announced at press time.
PDP’s 16-year reign in Jigawa, was expected to end, as Alhaji Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar of APC was leading Malam Aminu Ringim of the PDP.
In addition, Ganduje of APC in Kano State beat Salihu Sagir Takai of the PDP, while Gaidam, also of APC in Yobe, won 22 out of 24 LGs in the state with a total of 334,847 votes relative to Alhaji Adamu Maina Waziri of PDP who scored 179,700 votes.
PDP’s 16-year reign in Jigawa, was expected to end, as Alhaji Muhammadu Badaru Abubakar of APC was leading Malam Aminu Ringim of the PDP.
In addition, Ganduje of APC in Kano State beat Salihu Sagir Takai of the PDP, while Gaidam, also of APC in Yobe, won 22 out of 24 LGs in the state with a total of 334,847 votes relative to Alhaji Adamu Maina Waziri of PDP who scored 179,700 votes.
source: http://www.thisdaylive.com/articles/ambode-el-rufai-dankwambo-udom-ugwuanyi-win-guber-polls/206667/
No comments:
Post a Comment