Polls: Sanwo-Olu, Abiodun, Makinde, AbdulRazaq win

Governors-elect… Ugwuanyi, Yahaya, Ikpeazu, Abubakar, Umahi, Emmanuel

BABAJIDE Sanwo-Olu, banker, politician and public administrator was yesterday declared winner of Saturday’s governorship election in Lagos State.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced also frontline businessman AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq as winner in Kwara State.

Inuwa Yahaya won in Gombe State. Dapo Abiodun carried the day in Ogun State. His victory was announced at 1am. The governors-elect ran on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The electoral umpire also announced Seyi Makinde and Okezie Ikpeazu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as winners of the governorship elections in Oyo and Enugu states.

The results from many of the states were still being collated by the electoral umpire this morning.

Sanwo-Olu, two-time commissioner in Lagos, polled 739,445 to beat his closest rival, Jimi Agbaje of the PDP, who polled 206, 141.

The defeat is the third to be suffered by Agbaje in the  Centre of Excellence.

His first was in 2007 as the Progressives Action Congress (PAC) candidate. He lost to Babatunde Fashola of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). He also lost to incumbent Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of the APC in 2015 as the PDP candidate.

Agbaje called Sanwo-Olu to concede defeat at 7.07pm, shortly after the APC candidate was declared governor-elect. Here is a report of the events in the states where the elections had been concluded last night:

KWARA

AbdulRazaq was declared the winner of the election after polling  votes.

Announcing the result, the state’s Chief Returning Officer, Prof Muhammad Sanusi Liman, declared that “having scored the majority votes out of all the participating parties, AbdulRazaq is hereby declared as the governor-elect of the state”.

The APC won all the 24 seats in the House of Assembly.

Yesterday’s declaration ended the age-long Saraki dynasty in the Northcentral state.

The APC had earlier won the three senatorial seats in Kwara during the February 23 Presidential/National Assembly Elections. Senatae President Bukola Saraki lost his bid to retain the Central Senatorial slot for the PDP.

President Muhammadu Buhar331,546 votes to defeat his closest rival, Abdulrazak Atunwa of the PDP, who garnered 114,754i also beat his PDP challenger, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar.

Reacting to the victory, the state chairman of the APC, Bashir Bolarinwa, said it was a victory for all and a new dawn for the people.

A leading politician, Wole Oke, noted: “It is the end of fourth term in the wilderness for the youth in Kwara State political arena and landscape. It is now an opportunity for the emergence of other hitherto suppressed political might and the development and growth of potential political giants the state.”

GOMBE

APC’s Inuwa Yahaya was declared governor-elect with 364, 129 votes. He defeated Usman Nafada of the PDP, who scored 222,868 votes.

NIGER

Incumbent Governor Abubakar Bello had last night won 24 of the 25 local government areas of the state. He looked good to defeat his PDP challenger Umar Nasko.

KEBBI

Governor Atiku Bagudu of the APC was declared governor-elect in Kebbi State.

The results were announced at the Collation Centre for 2019 Governorship Election by the Collation Officer, Prof. Hamisu Bichi, in Birnin Kebbi.

He said Bagudu of APC scored 673,717 votes. Senenator Isah Galaudu of the PDP polled 106,633 votes.

“Atiku Bagudu of APC, having certified the requirement of the law and scored the highest votes is hereby returned elected and declared the winner of the March 9, Saturday governorship election in the state,” he said.

Bichi said 1,789,975 voters were registered; 820,078 accredited and 814,084 voted. There were 793,388 valid votes and 20,696 votes rejected.

OYO

The PDP candidate was leading after the announcement of 32 of the 33 local government areas.

But the APC cried foul, saying the PDP candidate jumped the gun by celebrating before he was declared governor-elect.

As the final collation of results got underway, the APC fired a petition against Makinde to the state INEC headquarters.

The party accused Makinde of what it described as a “breach of electoral laws”, demanding his arrest and prosecution.

Makinde was accused of releasing a video in early yesterday in which the PDP candidate “pointedly proclaimed himself winner of the governorship election in Oyo State when INEC, the authorised umpire has not concluded same nor declared any such results”.

The petition signed by the APC state secretary, Mr Mojeed Olaoya, alleged that Makinde by the action is clearly inciting the citizenry against an eventual credible outcome of the elections.

RIVERS

INEC yesterday announced the suspension of all processes in Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections, until further notice.

The suspension was made in a statement issued in Abuja by INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information & Voter Education, Mr. Festus Okoye.

Okoye said that the suspension was due to widespread violence and disruption that characterised the elections in the Southsouth state.

He said that based on reports from INEC officials on the field, the commission had determined that there had been widespread disruption of elections conducted on Saturday in the state.

The statement reads: “These initial reports suggest that violence occurred in a substantial number of polling units and collation centres; staff have been taken hostage and materials, including result sheets, have either been seized or destroyed by unauthorised persons.

“In addition, safety of our staff appears to be in jeopardy all over the state and the commission is concerned about the credibility of the process.

“Consequently, at a meeting held Sunday, March 10, the commission has decided to suspend all electoral processes in the state until further notice.

“This is in line with Section 26 of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) and Clause 47(e) of the Regulations and Guidelines of the Commission.

“The commission has also established a Fact-Finding Committee to assess the situation and report back within 48 hours.’’

The commission appealed to the people of Rivers, particularly voters, for their understanding, adding that it was probing the circumstances of these disruptions.

Rivers with 23 local government areas has 4,442 polling units and 3,215,273 registered voters out of which 2,833,101 persons had collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

Security agents yesterday cordoned off the INEC office, barring people, including reporters, from participating in the collation.

The team of security personnel, comprising the Federal Special Anti- Robbery Squad (F-SARS) and the Police Mobile blocked the two sides of Aba Road, which leads to INEC office from Waterlines and GRA junctions.

More than 10 Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) were patrolling the area.

A group of young women, under the eagis of “Port Harcourt Significant Girls”, who staged a peaceful protest at the GRA Junction, were dispersed as they moved towards the INEC office.

The protesters, clad in black dresses, were asking that the votes of the people be allowed to count.

OGUN

Abiodun of the APC was heading for victory as he had won in 11 of the 15 local government areas’ results announced by the INEC. Three of the council areas were won by Adekunle Akinlade of the Allied People’s Movement (APM). The PDP won in one. The results from five local government areas were still being awaited.

But the APM rejected the governorship, House of Assembly results in the Gateway State, alleging that the collation had been “hijacked and compromised”.

According to the APM, the outcome of the collation did not reflect the wishes of the people as freely expressed during the polls.

Announcing its rejection of the of the results as released by the Independent National Commission (INEC), the APM Campaign Organisation Director-General, Sarafa Tunji-Ishola, told reporters that the process was disrupted by hoodlums and results falsified to favour the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The former minister cited Abeokuta South, Abeokuta North, Odeda, Ifo, Obafemi/Owode and the nine local governments in Ogun East Senatorial District as areas where the exercise was allegedly disrupted and results doctored in favour of the APC.

He said: “The exercise which started on a peaceful note was disrupted as the counting of votes were being completed by hoodlums and unidentified uniformed men who hijacked the process and went ahead to collate falsified results sheets in many local council areas including Abeokuta South, Abeokuta North, Odeda, Ifo, Obafemi/Owode and particularly all the local government areas in all parts of the Ogun East Senatorial District.

“In local government areas like Sagamu, Odogbolu and Ogun Waterside that were won by the APM, the results were changed to deny our party its well-deserved victory.

“In other local governments won by the APC, the figures were altered to increase the margin between the APC and the APM.

“The disruptions were clearly designed to ensure that the APM does not meet the required constitutional requirement of 25 per cent of votes in the council areas of Ogun East Senatorial District and to suppress the electoral strength of the APM in Ogun Central Senatorial District where the party clearly enjoys superior strength.

“In the night, some armed men purportedly working for a top Federal Government official from Ogun State went round many of the local government areas, hijacked result sheets and forced party agents to sign already-filled result sheets under duress.

“These infractions are against the provisions of the constitution of Nigeria and the electoral act. The Allied Peoples Movement (APM) made a formal protest on these infractions to the Resident Electoral Commission of INEC in Ogun State as reports from our agents across the state revealed these atrocities.

“We requested that INEC should investigate these infractions and suspend the announcement of the purported results of the elections pending the completion of such investigation. We were surprised that the INEC went ahead this morning to announce the disputed results from many of the local government areas.

“I hereby, on behalf of the APM, formally reject the collation process that was hijacked and compromised because it did not reflect the wishes of the people of Ogun State as freely expressed in 09 March 2019 Governorship and House of Assembly elections.

“The APM wishes to put INEC on notice that we shall explore every means within the provisions of the constitution and the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to challenge this miscarriage of justice. We shall also ensure that the wishes of the people of Ogun State as freely expressed at the polls are protected.”

ENUGU

Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuayi was declared elected to retain his seat for the PDP after polling 449,935 to beat Senator Ayogu Eze  of the APC, who reportedly boycotted the election. He came a distant second with 10,423.

The Enugu State Collation Officer, Prof Joseph Ahaneku, the Vice Chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, declared Ugwuanyi as duly elected after winning in all 17 council areas.

ABIA

Incumbent Governor Okezie Ikpeazu was returned governor-elect after defeating his APC challenger Uche Ogah with 261, 127 votes to 99, 574.

JIGAWA

The incumbent Governor of Jigawa, Alhaji Muhammad Badaru has won the gubernatorial election conducted in the state on Saturday.

The Returning Officer for the governorship election in Jigawa, Prof, Azubike Nwankwo, Provost, Nigeria Defence Academy Kaduna declared the result in Dutse on Sunday.

Nwankwo said that Badaru, who contested on the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC), was returned elected with 810, 933 votes to beat his closest rival, Alhaji Aminu Ringim, who scored 288, 356 votes, followed by Alhaji Bashir Adamu of Social Democratic Party (SDP), who got 32,894 votes.

He explained that the total number of registered voters are 2,109,477, accredited voters, 1,169,924, total votes cast, 1, 163, 206, while valid votes stood at 1, 139, 054, and rejected votes, 24, 152.

The Returning Officer stated that the election was free and fair adding that due process was followed before the declaration of the result.

Nwankwo had also announced that the APC won all the 30 seats for the state House of Assembly.

EBONYI

Governor David Umahi has retained his seat in Ebonyi State for the PDP after polling 393, 343 votes to beat APC’s Sonni Ogbuoji, who got 81,703.

Declaring the result at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), State Headquarters in Abakaliki, the State Returning Officer, Prof Chukwuemeka Eze, said the governor garnered 393,343 across 13 local government arears in the state.

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) candidate, Chibueze Agbo, took the third place with 10,129 votes.

The returning officer said: “I hereby certify that I Prof Chukwuemeka Eze was the Returning Officer of the governorship election held on 9th of Match, 2019 in Ebonyi State.

“That David Umahi Nweze, of the PDP having satisfied the requirements of the law and having scored the highest number of votes is hereby returned and elected.”

Umahi in in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Emmanuel Uzo,r declared his unalloyed loyalty to the patriotic citizens of Ebonyi State for re-electing him for a second term.

He promised to consolidate on the aggressive infrastructural, human development and aggressive industrialisation of the state, the tripod on which his administration stands.

The Governor also reiterated his readiness to hand over power to Abakaliki bloc in 2023 after completing his second term so that power will continue to rotate round the three senatorial zones of the state in the spirit of equity and justice.

Borno

As at the time of going to press, the APC governorship candidate, Babagana Zullum, had won 24 of the 27 local government areas in Borno State.

The collation of result of the governorship election is conducted at the Kashim Ibrahim College of Education, Maiduguri.

The exercise, presided over by the state’s INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Alhassan Gali, was conducted smoothly in the presence of party agents, election observers, security agents and journalists.

Zulum scored the highest votes cast in 24  of the 27 local government areas as indicated in the results so far submitted for collation by the variuos returning officers of the councils.

The councils were Nganzai; Mobbar, Dikwa, Abadam, Guzamala, Gubio, Magumeri and Konduga.

Others were Mafa, Kaga, Kukawa, Marte and Monguno.

The election results so far collated indicated that Zulum was taking the lead against his closets opponent, Muhammad Imam, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The results as announced by the Returning Officer in charge of Nganzai, Dr Ibrahim  Mustapha, showed that the APC candidate scored 20, 196 as against the 907 votes scored by the PDP’s candidate.

In Mobbar, Dr Kamsale Umar, the Collation Officer, declared that Zulum polled 35,828 votes while Imam scored 622 votes.

For Dikwa; the Collation Officer, Dr. Muhammad Hassan, disclosed that the APC candidate scored 22,138 against the 1,542 votes scored by the PDP candidate.

Dr Shamaki Usman, the Collation Officer in charge of Abadam, said that the APC candidate polled 9,968 while the PDP candidate got 50 votes.

The Collation Officer in charge of Guzamala, Muhammad Auwal, announced that Zulum polled 28,030 votes against the 277 votes scored by PDP’s Imam.

Also, Kachalla Mohammed, the Collation Officer in charge of Gubio, declared that the APC candidate polled 33,203 votes while the PDP flag bearer got 419 votes.

Dr Adamu Yahaya, the Collation Officer in charge of Magumeri, announced that Zulum polled 22,261 against the 123 votes scored by Imam.

In Kukawa, the Collation Officer, Dr Umar Adamu, declared that the APC candidates gannered 29, 040 against the 344 votes polled by the PDP.

Salihu Ibrahin, the Collation Officer for Marte, announced thst the APC candidate got 19, 329 against the 173 votes scored by Imam, while Abdulkareem Ibrahim, the collation Officer in charge of Monguno, declared that APC polled 41,999 votes and 173 votes.

Similarly, the Collation Officer for Konduga, Kaka Bunu, declared that Zulum scored 31, 484 votes against 2, 497 votes polled by the PDP candidate while in Kaga, the APC candidate scored 16, 647 and PDP polled 1, 166, as declared by the Collation Officer, Mr Ali Mustapha.

Yobe

The APC was in early lead of the governorship election with a high margin in nine local government areas so far collated out of the 17 councils of the state.

The results were submitted at the state collation center under the leadership of Prof. Abubakar Gundiri by the local government collation officers.

Alhaji MaiMala Buni of the APC gubernatorial candidate scored 21,765 votes in Gulani Local Government against Ambassador Iliya Damagum of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 4,576 votes.

In Fika Local Government, APC polled 36,519 against PDP’s 9,552 while in Bade Local Government APC leads with 32,213 against PDP’s 8,854.

APC polled 20,657 votes in Bursari Local Government against PDP’s 2,813 while in Damaturu Local Government APC scored 26,087 against PDP’s 3,760 and in Nangere Local Government APC had 25,698 while PDP scored 4,765 votes.

In Karasuwa Local Government APC polled 24,262 against PDP’s 2,762 votes while in Gujba Local Government APC received 17,714 votes and PDP had 1,119 votes.

The APC also scored 11,338 votes in Tarmuwa Local Government while PDP polled 3,925 votes.

Meanwhile results from the remaining eight local government areas were being awaited

BAUCHI

Bauchi State Governor Mohammed Abubakar was set to retain his seat for the APC as he was leading his opponent Sen. Bala Mohammed of the PDP with a wide margin.

According to the results, the incumbent governor was leading in 12 out of the 17 local government areas released so far by the INEC.

The PDP candidate won in the remaining five council areas.

However, the State Returning Officer Prof Mohammed Kyari rejected the results from Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area, over alleged disruption of the voting process by people suspected to be political thugs.

CROSS RIVER

Cross River Governor and the PDP candidate Prof Ben Ayade, was in a comfortable lead after the collation of results of 14 out of 18 local government areas of the state.

In the results submitted by the various returning officers at the state collation centre at the INEC in Calabar, Ayade was leading his APC challenger.

The senator representing the Central Senatorial District, John Owan-Enoh and Niger Delta Affairs Minister Usani Usani, were laying claim to the governorship ticket of APC in the state.

The collation was adjourned till today.

ADAMAWA

With results pending from just one local government area and the PDP leading with over 30,000 votes, the party looked set to clinch the governorship election in Adamawa State.

Results collated from 20 local government areas before  the process was suspended, PDP candidate Umaru Fintiri had garnered 361,539 votes. He was being trailed by incumbent Governor Mohammed Bindow who polled 328, 433.

DELTA

Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta polled 433, 7021 votes to lead the governorship election in the state in the results so far announced.

In the result garnered from 14 local government areas, his closest rival, Chief Great Ogboru of the APC was trailing by 101,579 votes.