By Olusegun Olanrewaju and David Lawani
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday announced the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma, of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the state governorship election held on Saturday.
Also in Kogi, APC’s Usman Ododo was declared winner of the keenly-contested November 11 to clinch the much-coveted seat.
In Imo, the state returning officer for the election, Prof Abayomi Fasina, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State, announced the results yesterday morning at INEC state collation centre in Owerri, the state capital.
Fasina declared Uzodimma of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the election with 540,308 votes while Samuel Anyanwu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came a distant second with a total of 71,503 votes.
Athan Achonu of the Labour Party (LP) polled 64,081 votes to come third in the election.
The candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Anthony Ejiogu, garnered 6,392 votes to come fourth and Jack Ogunewe of the Action Alliance (AA) came fifth with 5,756 votes.
The returning officer said, “I, Prof. Abayomi Fasina, was the Returning officer for the Imo State governorship election held on November 11, 2023. That the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Good Hope Uzodimma, having scored the highest number of votes and satisfied the requirements of the law, is hereby declared the winner of the election and returned elected.”
The results announced by INEC showed that Uzodimma swept all the 27 local government areas of the state.
With this result, Uzodimma will be sworn in for a second term in office on January 14, 2024.
Earlier, the state agent of the LP, Callistus Ihejiagwa, was beaten and bundled out of the state collation centre after he protested the results announced by the local government areas returning officers.
He said the results were manipulated in the favour of the APC candidate, Uzodimma.
The state agent of the PDP, Kissinger Ikeokwu, immediately left the collation centre.
However, PDP and LP had on Saturday night called for an outright cancellation of the poll.
The PDP candidate, Anyanwu, in a press conference, said that the election was rigged in the favour of Uzodimma.
Also, the deputy governorship candidate of the LP, Tony Nwulu, said that the security agents provided security for INEC staff and APC members to rig the poll.
He said that the position of his party was for INEC to cancel the election.
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*Ododo wins in Kogi as Ajaka, Melaye reject outcome
In Kogi, Ododo emerged clear winner to clinch the much-coveted seat.
The state Returning Officer, Prof Johnson Urama, who is the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academics) of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, announced Ododo as the winner at 10:23pm on Sunday.
Ododo won with 446,237 votes, defeating his closest rival, Murtala Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), who scored 259,052, while Dino Melaye of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) polled 46,362 votes.
Ododo, an ex-Auditor General of Local Government in Kogi under Governor Yahaya Bello, was the anointed candidate of the governor who is ending his double terms of eight years.
Earlier yesterday, INEC said fresh polls will be conducted in 59 polling units in the Ogori/Magongo LGA of the state on November 18 in line with its principle of the margin of lead.
The total number of registered voters in the affected polling units was put at 15,136, one that was insignificant to the about 200,000 votes gathered by the APC candidate ahead of his closest rival – Ajaka.
The margin of lead implied that the elections initially scheduled by INEC for next Saturday in the 59 polling units would no longer be held.
*Reactions
Reactions to the results by parties were varied.
The APC urged the electoral umpire, INEC, to uphold the people’s will.
Its national secretariat warned against any attempt to truncate the will of the people in Kogi State.
It urged INEC to remain steadfast in its commitment to its mandate.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, said it was clear that its candidate, Ododo, was coasting to a spectacular victory in the Kogi gubernatorial election.
The APC, therefore, called on INEC to protect the integrity of the legitimate votes of the Kogi electorate.
In Kogi, the state chapter of the SDP has called for the cancellation of the results of the November 11 governorship election from five local government areas in the state.
The SDP made the call at the gubernatorial election collation centre where the party’s collation agent, David Edibu, submitted a petition to INEC, calling for the cancellation of results in Okene, Okehi, Ogori Magongo, Adavi, and Ajaokuta LGAs, as well as some parts of Lokoja, alleging corrupt practices, vote buying and over voting.
He added that agents of the party were not allowed to get close to the polling units in the LGAs.
The state returning officer, Urame, received the petitions on behalf of the commission and assured the SDP that the petition would be reviewed.
On its part, the PDP said it was keying into the petition of the SDP.
The party’s collation agent, Abubakar Mahmood, added that the number of malpractices in the said LGAs was alarming.
PDP candidate, Dino Melaye, had earlier called on INEC to cancel the off-cycle election in the state.
Speaking at a press conference yesterday in Lokoja, the state’s capital, Melaye alleged that result sheets manifested even before the commencement of the accreditation of voters on Saturday.
“Yesterday in the five local governments of the central senatorial district in Kogi state, there was no election. In the end, surprisingly, accreditation was done manually, the BVAS was not used,” Melaye said.
“Prepared sheets manifested even before accreditation and evidence is all over the media.
“INEC as a matter of urgency, must cancel the election. In many areas where I won, my agents were told there were no available result sheets to enter the result and we have evidence to back up these claims.
“As I speak to you, it is shameful that this is what our democracy has descended to. INEC has manifested ever more than before, that they cannot be trusted, they are biased, they are compromised, and they cannot be a neutral umpire,” he said.
The candidate added, “INEC officials and youth corps members were caught yesterday with prepared result sheets even before the commencement of the processes. A youth corps member was arrested with the prepared result and N1m.”
Meanwhile, the APC while reacting to the call for cancellation, said that the PDP could not blame anyone for not bringing agents to the polling units.
*Diri maintains lead in Bayelsa, result collation continues today
In another off-season gubernatorial election held at the weekend in Bayelsa State, tension heightened in Yenagoa, the state capital yesterday as INEC announced results.
Members of the PDP staged a protest at the INEC headquarters in Yenagoa demanding the cancellation of results which showed that Governor Douye Diri was leading.
The state attorney general and Commissioner for Justice, Biriyai Dambo (SAN), and the deputy director-general of the PDP campaign council, Tonye Isenah, led the protest demanding the cancellation of some results in Nembe constituency three.
The protesters marched from the Peace Park in front of the Bayelsa State Government House to the INEC Headquarters and called on the commission, especially the National Commissioner in charge of Delta, Rivers, and Bayelsa states, Mrs May Agbamuche-Mbu, to ensure the results collated in Nembe were not accepted.
According to him, several supporters of the PDP were denied entry into the community on Friday night to vote.
Responding to the protesters, the HOD of Voter Education and Publicity, Wilfred Ifogha, assured them that INEC had a system in place to detect where BVAS was not used for accreditation.
He urged them to submit an official letter to the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) stating their grievances.
However, there was a counter-protest in Nembe Constituency three, with voters rejecting calls for the cancellation of the results.
Speaking on behalf of the voters in Nembe Constituency 3, the Woman Leader of the party, Favour Emmanuel, decried calls for the cancellation of votes in Nembe.
She pointed out that the election in the area was peaceful, free, and fair.
Also speaking, Mr Asemiegha Orusakwe lamented that INEC officials conducted the election in the full glare of security agencies.
He wondered why the commission should listen to calls for cancellations of results that had been announced at the unit and the local government collation centres.
Meanwhile, a youth leader of the PDP, George Sibo, was reportedly killed at the collation centre Twon Brass, Brass local government area of Bayelsa State.
Tension had pervaded the collation centre early Sunday morning following a disagreement over where the collation of the results should hold.
While APC members insisted that it should be done in Brass, which is the headquarters of the local government, PDP members argued that it should be moved to Yenagoa because of the security situation. Sources said the disagreement snowballed into a crisis which later led to the death of Sibo.
Also, the INEC has raised the alarm that some of its officials in Brass were held hostage at the collation centre.
The APC accused the PDP of putting undue pressure on INEC officials to move collation from Brass to Yenagoa.
The electoral commission also called on security agencies to help facilitate their release.
Meanwhile, incumbent Governor Diri widened his lead over other candidates as more local government areas were announced.
In the first three local government areas namely, Yenagoa, Kolokuma/ Opokuma, and Ogbia, Diri polled 74,677 votes against his closest rival, Timipre Sylva of the APC who had polled 36,202 votes.
In the other three local government areas announced, Diri has consolidated his lead, winning two out of the three local government areas announced.
In Sagbama, Diri polled 35,504 votes while Sylva garnered 6,608 votes and the Labour Party candidate, Udengs Eradiri, polled 217 votes.
In Nembe, Sylva polled 22,248 votes to win the local government ahead of Diri who polled 4,556 votes.
In Ekeremor, Diri won the local government polling 23,172 votes against Sylva’s 8,445 votes.
However, the INEC has adjourned the final collation of Bayelsa State governorship election results till today.
The commission’s head of voters’ education and publicity in Bayelsa State, Wilfred Igofah, announced this to journalists yesterday night, citing “challenges in collation of results in Brass and Southern Ijaw” local government areas.
Consequently, Igofah said collation would resume by midday today.
The governorship candidate of the APC, Timipre Sylva, hails from Brass, while his running mate, Maciver Joshua, is from Southern Ijaw LGA.
Results from six out of the eight LGAs of the state have already been declared, placing Diri of the PDP ahead of other candidates in the election in five LGAs, while Sylva won only one of the six LGAs already declared.
Based on the results of the six LGAs declared, Diri, the incumbent governor, is leading by 64,106 votes.
Diri has scored a total of 137,909 votes from six LGAs so far declared.
