Delegates confirm Daily Times story as Atiku wIn PDP presidential ticket with landslide votes of 1,532 votes
…Faces Buhari in 2019
The Daily Times had predicted right the outcome of the just concluded presidential primary of the Peoples Democratic Parry (PDP) in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, as former Vice President Atiku Abubakar emerged victorious.
Atiku won the ticket with a total number of 1,532 votes to beat his closest rivals, former Speaker, House of Representatives and Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal, who polled 693 votes and Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, who polled 317 votes.
Trailing behind them were former Kano State governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso with 158 votes, Gombe State Governor Ibrahim Dankwambo with 111 votes, former Jigawa State Governor Sule Lamido with 96 votes, former Kaduna State Governor Ahmed Makarfi with 74 votes, former Minister of Special Duties, Kabiru Turaki with 65 votes,
former Sokoto State Governor Attahiru Bafarawa with 48 votes, former Senate President, David Mark with 35 votes, former Plateau State Governor Jonah Jang with 19 votes and coming last was Chancellor of Baze University, Senator Datti Baba Ahmed with 9 votes.
The voting process started around midnight when Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, read the voting guidelines and procedure to the hearing of delegates.
Total delegates accredited were 3,274 while 68 votes were voided.
A breakdown of states delegates shows Abia -106, Adamawa -76 , Akwa Ibom 153 but 151 voted, Anambra -54, Bauchi -73, Bayelsa -74, Benue -121, Borno- 57, Cross Rivers -95, Delta -141, Edo-79, Ebonyi – 101, Enugu- 121, Ekiti -109 but 107 voted, Gombe- 89, Kaduna -103, Kano -129 but 128 voted, Imo -117 but 104 voted, FCT- 36 but 35 voted,
Jigawa -84, Katsina – 102 but 101 voted, Kogi -94 but 93 voted, Kwara -102, Lagos -64, Nasarawa -62 , Niger- 83, Ondo -64, Osun -88, Ogun -21, Oyo-88 but 87 voted, Plateau -76 but only 74 voted, Rivers -131, Sokoto -95, Taraba- 93, Yobe- 59 but only 58 voted and Zamfara -48.
Akwa Ibom had highest number of delegates- 153 though 151 voted and FCT had the lowest of 36 delegates though 35 voted.
To ensure credibility of the process, members of the Accreditation Committee led by Speaker House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, moved round the venue to reaffirm numbers of delegates from each state and voting started thereafter in an orderly manner devoid of disruption.
Counting of votes started at bout 10.40am on Sunday morning after four hours and twenty minutes of sorting of ballot papers.
Convention planning chairman and Delta State Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who also chaired the electoral committee, announced the results after transparent counting of votes in the presence of agents of the 12 aspirants.
All agents of the presidential aspirants also confirmed to the whole world that the process was free, fair, transparent and that they were all satisfied with the entire voting processes.
