Governorship  primaries: Sanwo-Olu, Dapo Abiodun, Buni  clinch tickets for second term amidst protest

 

 

 

IBRAHIM QUADRI, Lagos,

Michael-Azeez Ogunsiji, Abeokuta

 

 

Delegates for the All Progressives Congress, APC gubernatorial primaries in Lagos State on Thursday defied rain to elect the State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the candidate of the party come 2023.

 

Eventhough, there were three aspirants for the primary who include Sanwo-Olu, Mr Wale Oluwo and Mustapha Olorunfemi. only the Governor attended the election.

 

According to sources, the other two were not allowed into the venue of the primary at Onikan Stadium (Mobolaji Johnson Arena) because they were not cleared at the national level.

 

Sanwo-Olu arrived  at 12:50pm and thereafter accreditation and voting commenced.

 

In attendance included Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, Speaker House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, former Deputy Governora in the State, Lagos APC chairman, Cornelius Ojelabi, State executive council members among others.

 

The total number of delegates as announced by the Chairman of the Lagos APC gubernatorial electoral committee, Adamu Shettima Yuguda was 1,225 from the 245 wards across 20 Local Government Areas of the State. The total number of accredited delegates was 1,198.

 

The Chairman added that total number of vote cast was 1,182. 1,170 votes were valid, 12 were invalid.

 

Whie declaring Sanwo-Olu as the winner, the Chairman thanked the delegates for for their patience, saying “I acknowledge the support of all of you including our support committee staff.”

 

He also reiterated that out of the three aspirants that collected forms, only one was cleared while two were disqualified from Abuja.

 

In his address, Governor Sanwo-Olu said, “I acknowledge all the committee members from Abuja. I thank Almighty God for giving us the day and for sparing us. I thank all the delegates for defying rain and they have spoken well.

 

“As God answered us today, it is going to happen to Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu between Sunday and Monday.

 

“The bigger thanks are for you all Lagosian. The journey we started four years ago, you have been supporting us . Today is an affirmation that we should continue.

 

*We will take this to the general elections and we will not disappoint you. Lagosians still expect a lot from us, we will not let you down so that we can take Lagos to a level that we all desire,” Sanwo-Olu said.

 

Also, The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, has  emerged winner of the state governorship primary of the All Progressives Congress.

 

In the primary election conducted at the MKO International Stadium, Abeokuta, five other aspirants contested against the governor.

 

The aspirants include Olubiyi Otegbeye, Mrs Modele Sarafa- Yussuf, Mr Owodunni Opayemi, Remilekun Bakare and Abdukadir Akinlade.

 

Of the six aapirants, only Abiodun, attended the primary, while agents of all other aspirants, announced their presence and did what was expected of them.

 

Giving the details of the  election, that was conducted in a peaceful atmosphere,  the Chairman of the Ogun State  APC Primary Election  Committee, Chief Wale Ohu, disclosed that 1,180 delegates, from the 20 local governments, were accredited for the exercise.

 

Announcing the results, Ohu, said Abiodun scored 1,168 votes, while other aapirants, did not secure any vote, saying that two votes were voided.

 

Prior to the commencement of the process, Ohu, announced to the delegates and all the leaders of the party that attended the event, that all required agents, were present.

 

Ohu took time to read out names of the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other officials of the APC officials that were sent from the National Secretariat.

 

In his acceptance speech, Abiodun, who described the results of the exercise as overwhelming and Tsunami like, commended the delegates and party supporters, for their peaceful behaviour, during the event.

 

The governor, who promised to work more for the development of people and the state, said the reward for hard work, is more work.

 

He enjoined the people of the state and party supporters, to shun camping of calumny and joins hands for the development of the state.

 

Meanwhile, barely few hours into the conduct of the exercise, Akinlade and Otegbeye passed vote of no confidence on the 5-man election panel under the chairmanship of Chief Wale Ohu.

 

They declared that Chief Ohu, as the chairman of the gubernatorial primary election in the state, lacked the capacity and integrity to conduct “an objective and the impartial” gubernatorial primary election for the state on the ground that “he is a partisan politician”.

 

In a statement issued in Abeokuta and jointly signed by Akinlade and Otegbeye, they queried the credentials of Ohu to have earned him the chairmanship of the election committee, alleging that previous exercises which he handled for APC in the state still accounted for the prevailing disaffection among party members.

 

They alleged that the Ohu-led APC governorship election panel did not make available to them, the delegate’s form as stipulated in the guidelines for the conduct of the exercise, but made such available to Governor Dapo Abiodun.

 

The duo said though, they would participate in the primary election because of their loyalty to the party and respect for its leadership, they, however, warned that post gubernatorial primary election dispute may be inevitable if the election panel failed to make available the authentic delegates list to the other aspirants before the commencement of the exercise.

 

In Abia state, the chairman governing council University of Nigeria Nsukka, High chief Ikechi Emenike, has emerged as the Abia  Governorship flag bearer for  the All Progressive Congress in Abia state held at Ugwunchara Umuahia North LGA ,Abia state.

 

He polled a total number of 672  Votes to defeat his closet rival Chief  Emeka Atuma who scored 159 votes.

 

Others aspirants in the primary election included  the immediate past Minister of state for Mines and steel chief Uche Ogah got 6 votes, chief Daniel Eke got 16 votes, while Prince Paul Ikonne polled 22 votes.

 

The others were chief Alex Otti who scored 14 votes and a former commissioner for finance in the state, chief Obinna Oriaku who polled 12 votes

 

The returning Officer for the primary  election Mr Tony Obiefna, declared Emenike the winner of the election.

 

He stated that the total number of accredited delegates for the primary election was 920, total number of votes cast was 907. Valid votes was 892 while invalid votes was 15.

 

In his acceptance speech High chief Ikechi  Emenike, said he has received the mandate given to him by the party faithfuls   with every sense of responsibility and promised not to disappoint them.

 

He urged all the party members not to relent, but do their best for the party to win the governorship election in the 2023 general election.

 

Also, The Speaker of Ebonyi State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Francis Ogbonnaya Nwifuru has emerged the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial candidate.

 

He was declared winner haven coast to victory at the guber primary election keenly contested by five prominent Ebonyians.

 

The election took place at the Pa Ngele Oluta township stadium, Abakaliki, Ebonyi State.

 

 

 

The result was announced by the Chairman of the Ebonyi State APC gubernatorial primary election committee, Prof. Emmanuel Adebayo. K.

 

The election process was fully monitored by INEC and the members of the press

 

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State, on Thursday, elected the Deputy Senate President, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, as the governorship candidate of the party for the 2023 elections.

 

1,190 delegates voted for the sole aspirant for the ticket while one invalid vote was recorded.

 

A total of 1,235 delegates from the 25 local government areas of the State were accredited for the primary election that was monitored by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), led by the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Monday Udoh-Tom.

 

Chairman of the electoral committee, Oyibo Nwaneri, declared Omo-Agege as the party’s candidate afte…

 

While, Governor Mai Mala Buni has been declared winner of the APC Primary Election in Yobe state.

 

He scored 805 out of the total votes of 890.

 

The primary, which held at an event centre in Damaturu, was contested solely by Buni, according to Chairman of the election committee, Umar Lawan Kareto.

 

Also, Alhaji Muhammad Abacha, son of former military leader, Sani Abacha, has emerged governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2023 general election in Kano State.

 

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Abacha polled 736 votes to defeat his closest rival, Jafar Sani-Bello, who scored 710 votes in the primary election on Wednesday in Kano State.

 

Announcing the results, the Returning Officer,  Hajiya Amina Garba, declared  Abacha as the winner of the primaries having scored 736 votes.

 

The Chairman the Electoral Committee, Alhaji Mohammed Jamu, said the primaries were legally conducted with validly-elected delegates and supervised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), police and State Security Service operatives.

 

However, Ogun State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic party (PDP) on Wednesday conducted two separate primaries and elected two different candidates for the 2023 governorship election in the state.

 

The State Working Committee of the party led by Sikirulai Ogundele conducted their primary at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library (OOPL), Abeokuta, with Hon. Ladi Adebutu emerging winner, garnering 714 votes out of the 716 accredited delegates.

 

Adebutu defeated three other aspirants, Segun Showunmi, Otunba Jimi Lawal, and Mr. Abodunrin John Abimbola.

Prof. Akase Sorkaa (Primary Committee Chairman), Engr. Hassan Husaine (Secretary), Aliyu Mohammed Gantsa (member), Abigael Molme (member) and Hon. Wisdom Ivo (member) from the National body, Abuja, conducted the primary that led to the emergence of Adebutu as a parallel candidate.

Another group loyal to Segun Showunmi had theirs at the NUJ Press Centre, Iwe-Irohin House, Oke-Ilewo, Abeokuta Abeokuta with officials from the National Working Committee of the party led by one Hon. Abayomi Daniel conducted the Iwe-Irohin exercise.

The Abayomi Daniel led factional Ogun PDP governorship election committee declared Segun Showunmi as the Ogun PDP governorship candidate earlier in the morning scoring 545 votes of the total 702 votes cast out of 728 accredited delegates at the venue, while 30 votes was scored by Otunba Jimi Lawal and 15 votes scored by Ladi Adebutu.

Speaking shortly after declared winner of the governorship primary heavily supervised by five-man NWC Election Committee from the PDP National secretariat, Abuja, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and security agents, Hon. Oladipupo Adebutu thanked the resilience of the state delegates for reporting their trust and mandate on him.

Highly elated Adebutu who was accompanied by the State Executive of the party, said his party shall tackle hunger through agriculture revolution and private sector engagement to drive the economy.

The former Federal House of Representatives member said “I seized this opportunity for bringing us this far, it is a tedious journey. It is lacked of compassion and time that makes us as a failed nation. It has caused lacked of empathy and sympathy, I must create hope and environment to believe your tomorrow shall be better. If you believe your today cannot be better than tomorrow, you’ve failed. If your earnings that cannot make you a better tomorrow, we have failed

“There is a big problem, the first is the problem of hunger in the land. We must go back to agriculture, thank God Ogun state is extensively a rural community, there shall be dignity of labour.

 

“Let us retool and get commissioned for being a gateway state. All the industries are leaving Ota because the present government has failed. We shall provide electricity and those industries will stay. We shall think and do things differently.

 

 

 

“When you have a trustworthy government, the private sector will bring money into governance. The private sector should build roads and transfer them to the government, the government revenue should be invested in hospitals and the socio-economic sector not on road infrastructure.”

 

 

 

Meanwhile, pandemonium broke out at the venue of the Ogun PDP governorship primary election as faction loyal to Hon. Ladi Adebutu disagreed with the Otunba Jimi Lawal faction of the party over the conflicting delegates list.

 

 

 

Crisis started when the Chairman of the five-man Ogun PDP governorship election committee, Prof. Akase Sorkaa announced the commencement of the accreditation of delegates.

 

 

 

Immediately the delegates from Ogun East entered the OOPL auditorium of the primary, loyalists of Otunba Jimi Lawal raised eyebrows over the authenticity of the delegates list presented by the electoral committee.

 

 

 

The development which forced the INEC officials to momentarily left the venue for about 30minutes.

 

 

 

Trouble started when the certified true copy of the National delegates list stamped and signed by the INEC Headquarters, Abuja and which was a product of the April 30 state delegates election was presented by the camp of aspirant Jimi Lawal for the purpose of accreditation, but PDP members loyal to Ladi Adebutu also presented another list.

 

 

 

In the ensuing controversy over which of the delegates’ list was authentic, discrepancies were noticed on the two lists across 11 Local Government Areas (LGAs) while they tallied only in Nine LGAs.

In what could be described as action movie, military men who are heavily armed engaged hoodlums who allegedly prevented delegates entry into the venue of the primary

 

For nearly 40 minutes, gun shots rang out repeatedly, forcing some of the delegates as well as party supporters to flee the venue.

The gunshots were fired by security operatives drafted to maintain peace at the venue, when the agitating crowd became uncontrollable from the two opposing camps.

 

 

 

While the gunshots lasted however, the development gave the needed opportunity for delegates, believed to be loyal to Hon. Ladi Adebutu to gain access into the venue for accreditation which held inside the auditorium of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta.

INEC however, returned to the venue, after the state chairman of the party, Hon. Sikirulahi Ogundele had secured the guarantee of the security agencies present.

As at 7:33pm before the commencement of voting, Otunba Jimi Lawal and followers quietly walked out from the venue following the disagreement over the delegates list.