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| Bruce |
It was drama and shock-galore as the
Peoples Democratic Party primaries held in various states of the federation on
Sunday produced some surprises as a number of incumbents lost their bids to
return to the National Assembly.
Prominent among those who
lost were a three-term senator and Chairman of the Senate Committee on
Education, Uche Chukwumerije and the Senate Majority Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba.
The Chairman, Mobilisation and
Organisation committee of the PDP in the South-West, Buruji Kashamu, however,
won in the Ogun East Senatorial District.
Violence
rocks PDP, APC primaries in Ogun
There were pockets of
crises during the PDP senatorial and All Progressives
Congress House of Representatives primaries in various parts of the state.
Kashamu defeated Mrs
Temidayo Oriola and Daisi Akintan.
His main rival and a former
governor of the state, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, was said have earlier
withdrawn from the race. But his name was still mentioned at the venue of the
primary election by the electoral officers as one of the contestants.
In Ogun-West, Waliu Taiwo
emerged winner with 191 votes, having defeated four other contestants.
Voting by delegates in
Ogun-East and Ogun-West was peaceful but it was different in Ogun Central where
it was postponed till Tuesday because of tension.
Trouble began
when some hoodlums were said to have invaded the PDP secretariat in Abeokuta,
the venue of the Ogun Central primary. This made some politicians
to allege malpractice by their rivals.
One of our correspondents
gathered that the loyalists of the two contestants – a former member of the
House of Representatives, Lanre Laoshe and wife of Chief Edwin Clark, Dr.
Bisola Sodipo-Clark – almost had a direct confrontation.
According to the state
secretary of PDP, Mr. Semiu Sodipo, the two contestants were ‘uncooperative.’
He said, “There was tension
among the delegates of the two contestants and so we had to postpone the
primary till Tuesday.”
The APC House of
Representatives primaries in the state were marred with violence in some
centres.
At the Centenary Hall, Ake,
Abeokuta, one of the venues of the primaries for the Abeokuta South Federal
constituency, policemen had to fire tear gas canisters
to disperse the delegates.
It was gathered that when
it was obvious that a contestant favoured by the leadership of the party in the
state was losing, they truncated the process through a directive.
“We learnt a directive was
issued from above that the voting should be discontinued,” one of the
politicians who pleaded anonymity told one of our correspondents.
Also in Ijebu
Ife, the venue of the primaries for Ijebu East/ Ijebu North/ Ogun
Waterside Federal Constituency, political thugs reportedly opened fire on
delegates.
As of press time, many of
the APC primaries had yet to be concluded.
The APC spokesman in the
state, Sola Lawal, did not pick his telephone when one of our correspondents
called him.
Lagos
Politicians in the camp of
the immediate past Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro,
cleared the three Lagos senatorial districts during the PDP senatorial
primaries. They beat the aspirants loyal to the leader of the party
in the state, Chief Olabode George.
In the Lagos-Central
Senatorial District, Mr. Ade Dosunmu, who was the governorship candidate of the
party in 2011 beat a former Commissioner for Physical Planning, Mr. Hakeem
Gbajabiamila, who had the support of George.
In Lagos-West senatorial
district, Mr. Segun Adewale (aka Aeroland), clinched
the ticket by defeating Moshood Salvador.
In Lagos-East, Mrs. Olabisi
Owolabi-Salis, beat Gbenga Osinowo to win the primary election.
Results of the House of
Representatives primaries of the APC so far announced show that , Ademola
Akiolu, a son of the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan, lost his bid to represent the Lagos
Island Federal constituency.
He was defeated by Enitan
Badru.
In the Ifako-Ijaye Federal
Constituency, Mr. Adewale Elijah, defeated the incumbent, Mr. Yomi
Ogunnusi, who is the current deputy chairman of the House Committee on Finance.
In Ikorodu, Mr. Jimi
Benson, who is a son of an Ikorodu leader, Mr. Babatunde Benson (SAN), scored
695 votes out of 941 votes to clinch the APC ticket. Earlier, the lawmaker
currently representing the constituency, Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, had stepped
down.
In Agege, the Chairman of
the Orile-Agege Local Council Development Area, Mr. Taofik Adaranijo, defeated
the current lawmaker representing the constituency, Dr. Samuel Adejare, to clinch
the ticket of the party.
Mr. Taiwo Adenekan won in
the Ajeromi federal constituency.
Mr. Abiodun Faleke, who
currently represents the Ikeja Federal Constituency will again fly the party’s
flag in the February poll.
In the Oshodi
Federal Constituency 1, Mr. Muyiwa Olabimtan, defeated Mr. Lateef Raji, who is
the Special Adviser on Information and Strategy to the Lagos State Governor,
Mr. Babatunde Fashola.
Also, Wole Diya, younger
brother of a former Chief of General Staff, Maj.Gen Oladipo Diya (retd.), won
the primary to represent the APC at the Somolu Federal Constituency.
Diya, a former member of
the House of Representatives polled 199 votes to defeat Sesan Olanrewaju who
scored 192 votes and Gbenga Abdullahi who polled 76 votes.
A former Chief Press
Secretary to former Governor Bola Tinubu, Mr. Kehinde Bamigbetan, who is the
immediate past chairman of the Ejigbo LCDA, won in the Oshodi federal
constituency 2
The Majority Leader of the
House of Representatives, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, who is running for a fourth
term, won at the Surulere Federal Constituency 1 by a landslide.
Oyo
The state Commissioner for
Sports and Youth Development Umar Arisekola-Alao, lost his bid for
the APC ticket in the Ibadan North Federal Constituency.
The incumbent, Abiodun
Awoleye, was declared winner with Arisekola-Alao coming second.
However, Dapo Lam-Adesina
who is the son of the state’s former governor Lam, won his bid to fly the
party’s flag in the Ibadan South-East/North-East Constituency. He is currently
serving as the state’s Commissioner for Industry, Applied Science and
Technology.
In Akinyele/Lagelu local
government areas, a member of the state House of Assembly beat Adigun Hammed to
the ticket while Mathew Abioye picked the ticket in Surulere/Ogo Oluwa.
At the end of voting in
Irepo/Oorelope councils, Bosun Oladele was declared winner while Saheed Fijabi
beat Kola Ajadi and Rotimi Ajanaku to pick the ticket for re-election in Ibadan
North-West/South-West.
Ondo
The son of a former
Governor of Ondo State, Gboyega Adefarati,, was among the losers in the contest
for APC ticket.
Adefarati lost the Akoko
South West/East to Babatunde Kolawole, while Friday Olemija won in the Akoko
North East/West.
In Ilaje/Ese Odo Federal
Constituency, Mr. Lucky Aiyedatiwa, emerged the candidate after
defeating Benson Enikuomehin.
Also, in Akure South/North,
a former state House of Assembly lawmaker, Afe Olowookere, defeated
his closest rival, Shaka Yusuf.
In Ondo West/East, there
was a consensus arrangement among the party delegates. Dele Olanubi
emerged as the candidate.
Abia
In Abia North ,
Chukwumerije was beaten by Mao Ohuabunwa, who polled
103 votes. Onuoha Ogba polled 67 votes while Chukwumerije came
third with 21 votes.
The state governor,
Theodore Orji and incumbent Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe won in Umuahia Central
and Abia South respectively.
Orji who was the sole
aspirant in his senatorial district scored 221 out of the total 222 vote
cast. One vote was voided.
Abaribe scored 169 votes to
defeat Chief Onyekachi Oje, who got only two votes.
Four incumbent members of
the House of Representatives lost their bids to return to the House while four
others won.
The successful incumbents
are Chief Uzor Azubuike (Aba North/Aba South federal constituency); Nkiruka
Onyejiocha (Umunneochi/Isuikwuato constituency); Nkem Abonta (Ukwa East/Ukwa
West constituency); and Nnenna Ukaeje (Bende federal constituency).
A former Commissioner for
Finance, Sam Onuigbo, defeated the incumbent Udo Ibeji to pick the ticket for
Umuahia/Ikwuano federal constituency, while Uko Nkole crushed Arua Arunsi, in
Arochukwu/Ohafia federal constituency.
Solomon Adaelu humiliated
the incumbent Eziuche Ubani, in Osisoma/Obingwa/ Ugwuanagbo
constituency, while Darlington Nwokocha picked the ticket for Isialangwa North/
Isialangwa South federal constituency. The incumbent lawmaker, Chinenye Ike,
withdrew from the race.
Akwa Ibom
The Akwa Ibom State
Governor, Mr. Godswill Akpabio, polled 423 votes to beat Mr. Ekperikpe Ekpo and
Chief Inibehe Okorie in Akwa Ibom North Senatorial District.
Ekpo and Inibehe Okorie
scored no votes.
The incumbent Senator
representing the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District, Mr. Aloysius Etok, withdrew
his aspiration to drum support for Akpabio.
A former Commissioner for
Finance in the state, Mr. Bassey Albert, emerged winner in the North-East
Senatorial District .
Albert emerged winner with
a total of 363 votes, followed by a former State House of Assembly member , Mr.
Usenobong Akpabio, who scored five votes. The incumbent senator,
Ita Enang, had only three votes.
Enang is the Senate
Committee Chairman on Rules and Business.
Bayelsa
The Chairman, Senate
Committee on Oil and Gas, Downstream Sector, Senator Emmanuel Paulker and
Chairman, Silverbird Group, Mr. Ben Murray-Bruce, emerged winners
in the Bayelsa Central and East senatorial districts respectively.
Paulker polled 174 votes
against Austin Febo, who scored 17 votes.
In Bayelsa-West, Foster
Ogola scored 69 votes to emerge winner while the Secretary, South South Peoples
Assembly, Ayakeme Whiskey, polled 27 votes in a parallel election.
In a parallel primaries
conducted by a faction of the party, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, was declared
winner after polling 93 votes.
In Bayelsa East, Murray-Bruce
was declared winner after polling 138 votes to beat Mr. Anthony Ikoli (SAN),
who came a distant second with 11 votes.
Benue
Senate President, David
Mark, was returned unopposed after his only challenger, Mike Onoja, stepped
down. Mark polled 384 votes. Nine votes were declared invalid.
Onoja, withdrew from the
race shortly before voting commenced. He said his decision was in the “interest
and unity of the Idoma nation.”
Mark, was quoted as saying
“Whatever makes for the peace, unity and overall development of the Idoma
nation would be my guiding principle. We can work together for the common good
of Idoma nation because we want to be exemplary. This is not about me but the
interest of Idoma people.
“PDP will work hard and win
elections in a free, fair and transparent system. We are on the ground enough
to win our elections creditably.
Cross River
Senate Leader,
Ndoma-Egba(SAN) failed to secure his fourth term bid following his
defeat by the member representing Obubra/Etung constituency in the
House of Representatives, Mr. John Owan-Enoh.
Owan-Enoh polled 217 votes
to defeat Ndoma-Egba and Ambassador Mark Egbe, who secured 37 and 20 votes
respectively.
The atmosphere was tense at
the Ikom Local Government Area secretariat where security personnel
almost outnumbered the delegates.
Dressed in
white attire, Ndoma-Egba left the scene of the exercise at
3.40pm after casting his vote. At about 5.45pm the returning
officer, Mr. Uko Enaku, pronounced Owan-Enoh the winner.
Reacting to his victory, Owan-Enoh
said the outcome was an indication that the people of the district needed a
change in their representation.
Enugu
Deputy Senate President,
Sen. Ike Ekweremadu, was returned unopposed in Enugu-West.
This followed the
withdrawal of Governor Sullivan Chime from the race.
Ekweremadu received 294
votes out of the 299 cast. The remaining five votes were rendered invalid as a
result of irregularities.
Ekweremadu said, “I want to
dedicate this victory to Governor Chime – he equally made personal sacrifices
to pave way for the peace we have today.”
The story was however
different in Enugu North and Enugu West Senatorial districts where parallel
primaries were held.
Three separate
primaries were held in Enugu East which produced three candidates.
They are incumbent senator, Gil Nnaji; a former Chief of Staff to the governor,
Ifeoma Nwobodo; and a former Minister of Information, Frank Nweke
Jnr.
The primary election which
produced Nwobodo held amid tight security at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Enugu,
while the primaries that were won by Nnaji and Nweke took place at
Nkwo Nike, and Ozalla, respectively.
There were also unconfirmed
reports that the chairman of the Association of Local Governments
of Nigeria, Nwabueze Okoye, emerged from another primary election in the
senatorial zone.
A similar scenario played
out in Enugu North. Three aspirants, including the former Commissioner for
Transport, Chuka Utazi, and a former National Chairman of the PDP,
Chief Okwesilieze Nwodo, contested in separate primaries.
Plateau
Governor Jonah Jang and
incumbent Senator Joshua Dariye won Plateau North and central
districts.
Jang had 273 votes
while Ibrahim Kasai had 18.
The Attorney General and
Commissioner for Justice, Mrs. Olivia Dazyem, was the returning officer in the
election conducted under tight security.
Nasarawa
The serving senator
representing Nasarawa South senatorial district , Suleiman Adokwe,
won his bid to fly the party’s flag.
Adokwe defeated Bala Zakari
by scoring 163 votes.
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