Oyo State Gov. Seyi Makinde, his Adamawa counterpart, Umaru Fintiri are among those who scaled the hurdles of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primaries across the country on Wednesday.
Some of the states where delegates trooped out for the exercise include Oyo, Ogun, Benue, Taraba, Abia, Bauchi, and Kaduna under the supervision of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other stakeholders amid heavy security presence.
The PDP presidential primary is expected to take place on Saturday and Sunday in Abuja following the conclusion of primaries for the State Houses of Assembly, House of Representative, and Senate.
In Oyo State, Gov. Seyi Makinde swept the polls with a total of 1,040 votes to defeat the only opponent, Mr Hazeem Gbolarunmi, who had only two votes at the event held at the Lekan Salami Stadium in Ibadan.
Persecondnews reports that Makinde had received commendation from the jubilant crowd.
In Ogun, Mr Ladi Adebutu, former House of Representatives member from Remo, collected 740 votes to defeat his rivals, Mr Jimi Lawal, ex-banker and Segun Showunmi at the primary held at Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library in Abeokuta.
From Adamawa comes a report that incumbent Governor Umaru Fintiri got the party’s ticket for a second term run in the 2023 polls.
Fintiri who won 663 of a total of 668 votes with five others declared void, appreciated delegates, party leaders, and elders for what he described as “a defining moment for our great party in Adamawa State”.
“We demonstrated our anger at the way we were governed by the party in power in the state at that time; we made a collective resolution to take back our state from the All Progressives Congress (APC) whose performance in governance was far below any acceptable rating,” he said in his acceptance speech.”
Also in Benue, the Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly, Mr Titus Uba, emerged the PDP candidate polling 731 votes to defeat his closest rival and the incumbent deputy governor of Benue, Benson Abounu, who scored 81 votes.
A former Enugu State Commissioner for Finance, Mr Peter Mbah, won the governorship primary.
Abia’s Prof. Eleazar Ikonne, a former Vice-Chancellor of Abia State University, was declared winner of the contest.
Another state Speaker emerged the Delta State Governorship candidate, Dr Sheriff Oborevwori, polling 590 votes to beat 13 other aspirants.
Runner-up David Edevbie had 113 votes while Senator James Manager came third with 83 votes.
In Rivers, the immediate past Account-General of the state, Siminialayi Fubara, emerged as the governorship candidate of the PDP after polling the highest number of votes in the primary.
Fubara, who hails from the ancient town of Opobo, was elected at a primary held at the Obi Wali International Conference Centre in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
He scored 721 votes to emerge the winner ahead of 15 other aspirants with the immediate past Commissioner for Finance in Rivers, Isaac Kamalu, scoring 86 votes as the runner-up.
In Gombe, Muhammad Barde came stop with 160 votes, and Jamilu Gwamna who came second scored 119 votes.
The four other aspirants shared the remainder of the 49 votes amongst them while the returning officer, Mike Oghiadome, said the conduct of the primary left nothing to be desired.
Again, in Nasarawa, David Ombugadu, a former member of the House of Representatives, polled 247 votes to beat retired Major General Nuhu Angbazo who scored 202 votes.
Persecondnews reports that former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, had announced his withdrawal from the race before the election took place.
Yobes’s former senatorial candidate, Sheriff Abdullahi, also clinching the governorship ticket scoring 295 votes while other two aspirants, Abbagana Tata and Ali Tikau, scored 109 and 129 votes respectively.
Taraba former PDP chairman, Mr Kefas Agbu, scored 443 votes of the 522 accredited voters to win the party’s primary.
The Speaker of the Taraba State House of Assembly, Joseph Kunini, scored 31 votes, while Jerome Nyame, Joel Ikenya, and Hilkiah Buba-Joda, who polled 24, 11, and six votes respectively.
Candidate Abdullah Yahman of Kwara polled 518 to beat Aliyu Ahman-Pategi who scored 31 votes while Prof. Yissa Gana got 14 votes.
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