Gov’ship polls: Jubilation in Imo over Ihedioha’s victory

…PDP guber candidate triumphs over Gov Okorocha’s son in-law, Ararume, others

…el – Rufai, Okowa, Idris, Zulum, Sule, Ayade win in Kaduna, Delta, Zamfara, Borno, Nassarawa, C’River

Prince Nwankwo & Val Okara, Owerri, Patrick Okohue, Lagos, Doorsum Iwambe & Tunde Opalana, Abuja, Nosa Akenzua, Asaba, and Tom Garba, Yola

The streets of Owerri, the capital of Imo State and all the communities within the state were enveloped in wild jubilation on Monday evening as thousands of people trooped out to celebrate what they described as the fall of ‘emperor’ Rochas Okorocha, the out-going governor of the state.

This was just as news of the victory of former deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Emeka Ihedioha, in the governorship election held on Saturday filtered in.

Ihedioha was declared winner of the governorship poll by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) late Monday night.

He polled 273,404 votes ahead of his closest rival and candidate of the Action Alliance (AA), Uche Nwosu, who polled a total of 190,364 votes.

Nwosu is the son in-law of Governor Rochas Okorocha who strongly backed his candidacy.

The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Senator Ifeanyi Ararume, came third polling 114, 676 votes ahead of Senator Hope Uzodinma of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who garnered 96,458 votes.

The candidate of Accord and Governor Okorocha’s predecessor, Ikedi Ohakim, came distant fifth on the log with 6,846 votes.

Announcing the results of the election on Monday night, the state’s returning officer and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University of Agriculture, Umundike, Abia State, Prof Francis Atunta, gave the total registered voters across the state’s 27 local government areas as 2,221,008 and the total accredited voters as 823,743.

He said a total of 25,130 votes were cancelled across the state with total valid votes as 714,355 while the total votes cast is 739,485.

A total of 70 candidates representing various political parties took part in the election.

According to The Daily Times correspondents in Owerri, people of Imo State sang, danced and moved round Owerri capital city, in celebration of the results collated from the 27 Local Government Areas of the state.

According to our correspondents, jubilation started at exactly 5:00pm in front of the demolished Ekeukwu Market cum Douglas road, Owerri, when results of 25 Local Government Areas were announced, remaining Ngor Okpala and Owerri North, which are also the strongholds of Hon. Ihedioha.

The celebration was escalated when finally the two remaining LGAs were collated, leading to congestion of the major roads and streets in Owerri with people chanting songs of victory for Hon. Emeka Ihedioha, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate.

According to INEC result available to The Daily Times, the PDP candidate, Emeka Ihedioha, former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, polled a total of 273,404 votes to defeat his closest rival, Uche Nwosu, of Action Alliance, who got 190,364 votes to come as distant second position while the candidate of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Ifeanyi Ararume, came third with 114, 676 votes while the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Senator Hope Uzodinma, polled 96,458 votes to take the fourth position.

el – Rufai, Okowa, Idris, Zulum, Sule, Ayade win in Kaduna, Delta, Zamfara, Borno, Nassarawa, C’River

Meanwhile, Governor of Kaduna State of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the governorship election held on Saturday, Mallam Nasir el – Rufai, has been declared the winner.

Vice-Chancellor, Bayero University, Kano, Prof. Mohammed Bello, who is the returning officer, said el-Rufai polled 1, 045, 427 to defeat his closest rival who is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Isa Ashiru, who scored 814, 168.

The result shows that the APC candidate won in Makarfi, Kudan, Ikara, Kubau, Giwa, Kauru, Soba, Kaduna North, Birnin Gwari, and Sabon Gari, Lere, Kaduna South, Igabi and Zaria Local Government Areas.

The PDP candidate, on the other hand, won in Kajuru, Kachia, Jaba, Kaura, Zangon Kataf, Zanga, Chikun, Jema’a and Kagarko local government areas.

The PDP candidate lost his Kudan Local Government Area where he scored 22, 022 to el-Rufai, who scored 28, 624.

Similarly, the INEC Returning Officer in Delta State, Prof. Seth Accra Jaja, has formally declared Senator Ifeanyi Okowa of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of the governorship poll.

In the final result declared on Monday afternoon, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Chief Great Ogboru, polled 215, 938 votes while the winner and PDP candidate, Okowa, scored 925, 274 votes.

According to Prof. Jaja, total registered voters were 2, 831, 205, accredited voters, 1, 188, 784 and rejected voters, 24, 147, adding that total valid votes were 1, 154, 188 while the total votes cast was 1, 178, 335.

Meanwhile, the APC agent, Prof. Festus Arunaye, has rejected the results of the poll citing irregularities in the exercise.

According to him, the APC in the state will approach the election tribunal to seek redress.

Earlier, factional leader of the APC in the state, Prophet Jones Erhue, had issued a statement, urging INEC to cancel the governorship election on the grounds of violence, ballot papers snatching, vote-buying among other electoral irregularities.

In Zamfara State, the INEC has declared the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Alhaji Mukhtar Shehu, the winner of the poll held in the state.

INEC declared Shehu winner of the election as he polled 534, 541 votes to defeat his close challenger of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The state collation officer, Prof. Kabiru Bala of the Ahmadu Bello University Zaria, said Shehu’s closest rival, Bello Muhammad Mutawalle of the PDP polled 189, 452 votes.

The Daily Times recalls that the acronym of the APC had been omitted on the results sheet for the governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state.

In Borno State, the INEC has declared Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum of the APC winner of the governorship election in Borno State.

Umara Zulum, who emerged winner polled 1, 175, 440 votes to beat his closest opponent, Alhaji Mohammed Imam, who garnered 66, 115 votes.

Also, the INEC has declared Abdullahi Sule of the APC winner of Saturday’s governorship election in Nasarawa State.

Prof. Abdullahi Bala, returning officer for the election, announced Sule as governor-elect on Monday in Lafia after the collation of results from the 13 local government areas of the state.

Bala said the APC candidate polled a total of 327, 229 votes to defeat other opponents in the election while David Ombugadu of the PDP scored 184, 281 votes and Labaran Maku of the APGA polled a total of 132, 784.

In a related development, Governor Benedict Ayade has been re-elected as governor of Cross River State.

Announcing the result in Calabar, the state Returning Officer, Prof. Akim Ibhadode, said Ayade, of the PDP won the election with 381, 484 votes to defeat his APC opponent who scored 131, 161.

However, the PDP has rejected the results of the governorship election in Kaduna State. The party’s agent, Jerry Ishaya, said the result was not the true reflection of the votes cast on Saturday, declaring that the party has rejected the result in all its entirety.

Ishaya explained that PDP agents in Zaria, Kabau, Kaduna North, Kaduna South, Igabi, Soba and Lere local government areas of the state have told the party leadership that card readers were not used at all.

He accused the security agents and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission of connivance to steal the mandate of the people.

He added that “we have formally written the INEC that card readers were not used in those local government areas mentioned. Our agents told us how security agents overpowered them in some areas.

“The results were manipulated in collaboration with the INEC, security agents.”

Also, the Deputy Director-General of the Kaduna PDP Campaign Organisation, Danjuma Sarki, described the result as a charade.

Sarki wondered how the APC scored almost the same result during the presidential and governorship elections when it was obvious that the turnout was low in the governorship election.

He said that “the result was not the true reflection of votes cast. The result of the governorship elections is more than that of the presidential which recorded high voters turn out.”

Meanwhile, Speaker, House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has chided the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, for supervising a commission with moral burden question to answer over its handling of the governorship election results in Bauchi State.

The speaker, who questioned the rationale behind INEC’s cancellation of the state governorship election results in Tafawa Balewa Local Government, said the commission’s decision lacks substance and is a clear departure from the provisions of the law.

Speaking during a media briefing in Bauchi, Dogara stated that it is absurd that the electoral body would order a cancellation of the results of an election that was conducted in a free, fair and transparent manner, save for the issue of computation of the final results which was caused by the carting away of the result sheet by agents of the Governor Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, of the APC.

Dogara warned the INEC chairman to be wary of posterity and to avoid being used by the powers that be to foist crisis on his state of origin as a result of impending danger that may follow the manipulation of the election results.

Relatedly, the APC has rejected the outcome of the governorship election in Adamawa State and called on the INEC to probe the election process in the affected local governments.

The North East, National Vice chairman of the party, Comrade Mustapha Salihu, at a press conference at the party’s secretariat in Yola, said the 44 polling units are not the only areas that elections malpractices took place.

According to him, serious complaints were tendered by APC agents alleging that election irregularities were reported in the Hong, Michika, Song, Lamurde, Guyuk and Demsa, but dumped by INEC.

He revealed that card readers were not used, APC agents were attacked, killing one of the agents in Hong by the opposition party, cases of over voting was reported in many areas and undue cancellation of results by INEC officials were reported.

“We want to bring it to the notice of the general public that we reject the entire results of governorship elections held in Adamawa State. Our petitions were rejected and is evident that the whole process is been compromised,” he said.

Salihu accused soldiers of whisking results in Song, results of four wards were not released and lamented how officials of INEC were aiding opposition to rig the elections.

While addressing the newsmen along state party officials, Mustapha based their major complaints of violence, killing and lynching of agents, petitions were dumped and results were tailored by INEC officials.

“We are calling for probe by INEC and we must bring accountability on the table,” he added.

He said that the results are not the reflection of Adamawa people and their mandate must be brought back to them else they head to court in order to reclaim the mandate.

“We demand the full inquiry of the election process,” he stated.

Recall that Adamawa Governorship elections was declared inconclusive at the wee hours of Monday morning and INEC assured of complementary elections in 44 polling units of LGAs affected.