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Guber Polls: PDP Wins Abia, Enugu, Oyo, Ebonyi, Others …APC Wins Lagos, Kwara, Gombe, Others
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, winner of the March 9 governorship election in Abia State.
The INEC Returning Officer in the state, Prof. Benjamin Ozurumba, yesterday, said that Ikpeazu scored 261,127 votes to win the poll.
He defeated Uchechukwu Ogah of the All Progressives Congress who polled 99,574 votes.
He also announced that Alex Otti, candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance scored 64,366 votes.
Blessing Nwagba of the Social Democratic Party scored 2,919 votes.
According to Ozurumba, 433,315 votes were valid, out of the 444, 376 votes cast, while 11,061 votes were rejected.
Ikpeazu won in 11 out of the 17 Local Government Areas of the state, while Ogah won in four local government areas, and Otti won in two.
Similarly, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) the winner of Saturday’s Governorship election in Enugu state for a second tenure.
The state Returning Officer, Prof. Joseph Ahaneku, who announced the result in Enugu, yesterday, said that Ugwuanyi won in the 17 local government areas (LGAs).
Ahaneku said that the governor polled 449,935 votes against his closest rival, Senator Ayogu Eze of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 10,423 votes.
Mr Emmanuel Nwankpa of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) and Mr Ekene Uzodinma of the United Peoples Party (UPP) polled 2,547 and 1,476, respectively.
Ahaneku, who is the Vice Chancellor of Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, said that there were 1,944,016 registered voters in the state.
He said that 478,241 voters were accredited, adding that 470,927 valid votes were recorded, while 7,314 votes were declared invalid.
Also, the leading opposition, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in the governorship and state assembly elections in Katsina State has rejected the outcome of the Saturday’s polls in the state.
This was as it said it will take legal action to challenge the outcomes.
The party Chairman and the deputy governorship candidate, Salisu Majigiri said the election outcomes as being collated currently by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is not the will of the people.
As at the time of filing in this report, INEC have received results from 30 out of the 34 local government areas of the state.
Majigiri while addressing newsmen on the INEC premises said “On behalf of the governorship candidate, Senator Yakubu Lado, myself as the deputy governor, the state house of assembly candidates and the PDP hereby rejected the result because the voters turn out yesterday was very poor.
There was low voter turnout yesterday (Saturday) in Katsina compare to the Presidential election.
But from the figure we are receiving now, the INEC is trying to announce the figures that are not the real figures and not the will of the people.
“We have so far received 30 out of 34 local government areas. So, we have compare with the result that we are having with us as brought to us by our agents. There are so many discrepancies between the results been announced at the INEC headquarters and that with us. So, we have rejected the results in totality and we are not going to accept the result that INEC is going to collate.
“So, we are rejecting the result even before the announcement by INEC. We don’t have the authority to announce our own results but we have the figures and we will make it public after INEC announcement.
“For instance in Zango local government area, our party agents were chased away by security agents because they cannot win such areas without force. In Kaita, the result was collated in INEC office.
“We are going to take constitutional measures. There is a provision in the constitution, the electoral law which when you are not satisfied with the process, you have your ways to challenge the outcome,” Majigiri, however, stated.
However, as at the time of filing in this report, election results are still been collated in the INEC headquarters, Katsina.
Results from two out of the 34 local government areas of Kankara, Kafur were still pending.
Meanwhile, the candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has been declared the winner of the governorship election held on Saturday, March 9.
Returning Officer, Prof. Eyitope Ogunbodede, made the declaration, yesterday, at INEC’s collation centre in Yaba, Lagos.
The Governor-elect, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, says his main challenger, Mr Jimi Agbaje of the Peoples Democratic Party, has called to congratulate him.
He announces this in his Facebook page.
“At exactly 19:07, I received a call. Thank you Jimi Agbaje for your congratulatory call filled with kind words.
“It was an intense campaign and I am happy we can now focus on the very important job at hand; delivering a Lagos that works for all. #ForAGreaterLagos.”
Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress garnered 739, 445 votes while Agbaje got 206, 141.
Also, Inuwa Yahaya of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has won the Gombe State governorship election held on March 9.
The INEC Returning Officer in the state, Prof. Saminu Abdulrahaman, who declared the result in Gombe, yesterday, said that Yahaya scored 364,179 votes to defeat his closest rival of the Peoples Democratic Party, Sen. Usman Nafada, who polled 222,868 votes and was returned elected.
He said that there were 1,394,386 registered voters, 627,457 accredited voters, 608,846 valid votes, 14,384 rejected votes and 623,230 total votes cast.
Abdulrahman, the Vice Chancellor, Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, added that Yahaya won in 10 of the 11 local government areas of the state.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the governorship election results from Gombe Local Government Area showed that APC polled 68,384 votes, while PDP scored 21,673 votes.
In Shongom Local Government Area, APC scored 13,463 votes, while PDP scored 12,993 votes.
In Yamaltu-Deba Local Government Area, APC scored 51,521 votes to defeat PDP which scored 25,852 votes.
In Akko Local Government Area, APC polled 58,479 votes, while PDP scored 30,832 votes, and in Balanga Local Government Area, APC scored 30, 926 votes as against PDP’s 18,192 votes.
In Dukku Local Government Area, APC scored 27,302 votes as against PDP’s 16,807 votes.
In Kwami Local Government Area, APC scored 30, 539 votes against PDP’s 18, 240 while in Billiri Local Government Area, APC polled 18,612 to beat PDP which had 18,063 votes.
In Funakaye Local Government Area, APC scored 29,191 to defeat PDP which had 20,020, while in Kaltungo Local Government Area, APC scored 26,744 as against PDP’s 22,259.
However, PDP defeated APC in Nafada Local Government Area which is Sen. Usman Nafada’s home.
The PDP polled 17,937 votes as against APC’s 9,018 in Nafada.
In a similar vein, the Governor-elect of Kwara State, Mr AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq, said the state had finally been set free from political bondage and underdevelopment.
AbdulRazaq, who was the All Progressives Congress governorship candidate, said this in his acceptance speech after being declared winner of the governorship election held on Saturday.
Declaring the results of the poll, yesterday, at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Ilorin, Kwara State capital, the state Returning Officer and Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lafia, Nasarawa State, Prof. Muhammad Liman, said AbdulRazaq polled 331,546 votes to emerge as the winner of the election.
His Peoples Democratic Party counterpart, Mr Abdulrazaq Atunwa, polled 114,754 votes to emerge as the runner-up in the election.
Consequently, Abdulrazaq beat Atunwa with a margin of 216,792 votes.
Notably, the APC beat the PDP in all 16 local government areas of the state.
Liman added that out of 1,376,372 registered voters in the state, 464,393 were accredited.
Total valid votes were put at 453,433; rejected votes were 9,994; while the number of total votes cast was 463,427.
Meanwhile, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Oyo State, Mr Seyi Makinde as governor-elect.
As announced by the state collation officer, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe of the University of Lagos, at the state office of INEC, Ibadan, yesterday, Makinde polled 515,621 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Chief Adebayo Adelabu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) who had 357,982 votes.
The PDP recorded the highest number of votes in 28 local government areas while the APC won in five local government areas.
The 28 local government areas in which the PDP had the highest number of votes are Ibadan North West, Ibarapa East, Atiba, Kajola, Ido, Lagelu, Iwajowa, Ogbomoso South, Afijio, Oorelope, Ibadan North East, Ibadan South East, Ibarapa North, Atisbo, Ibarapa Central, Ibadan North, Egbeda, Itesiwaju, Saki West, Saki East, Oyo West, Oyo East, Oluyole, Olorunsogo, Ona Ara, Akinyele, Iseyin and Ibadan South West.
On the other hand, the APC led in five local government areas which are Oriire, Ogo oluwa, Surulere, Ogbomoso North and Irepo.
Meanwhile, a three-hour wait greeted the announcement of result for Ibadan South West local government area.
Speaking on the development, state Resident Electoral Officer, Mr Mutiu Agboke attributed the delay to the fact that some hoodlums invaded the Town Planning collation centre for the local government, burning INEC result sheets and other documents.
Agboke explained that the commission, relying on provisions of the electoral law, consequently retrieved the result from security agents and party agents to regenerate result for the affected local government area.
Not satisfied by INEC’s verdict, agent of the APC, Mr Mojeed Olaoya had questioned why the result for the local government was not cancelled owing to the disruption, as was done in some wards earlier announced.
Responding, collation officer, Ogundipe said those cancellations referred to were for areas where disruptions occurred prior to counting but in that of Ibadan South West, the disruption occurred when collation had been concluded.
As regards result of state assembly election, Agboke announced that the PDP won 26 seats, the APC won 5 seats while the Action Democratic Party got 1 seat.
In the Ibarapa Central/North federal constituency election concluded on Saturday, PDP’s Ajibola Muraina was also declared winner ahead APC’s Ojo Obafemi.
Meanwhile, APC has in a petition to the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) demanded the immediate arrest and prosecution of Mr Seyi Makinde.
The petition signed by state Secretary of the APC, Mojeed Olaoya, said Makinde attempted to blackmail INEC and lawful authorities in a video broadcast where he declared himself as the winner, prior to INEC’s announcement.
A broadcast it described as illegal and capable of inciting the populace against their will, the APC added that Makinde’s broadcast amounted to flagrant abuse of the electoral laws and was reasonable.
“We wish to bring to your attention the release of a video by the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Oyo state, Seyi Makinde in the early hours of the morning of 10th March 2019.
The petition read, “In the video, Engineer Seyi Makinde pointedly proclaimed himself the winner of the governorship election in Oyo state when INEC, the authorised umpire has not concluded same nor declared any such results.
“In the said video broadcast to the citizenry of Oyo state and the whole world, Mr Makinde proclaimed and declared himself as the winner of the yet to be concluded elections, thus already inciting the populace against the popular will of the people, as may be eventually declared by INEC when the final results are released.
“By the unconscionable broadcast by Mr Seyi Makinde, he is clearly inciting the citizenry against an eventual credible outcome of the elections which may be contrary to his selfishly proclaimed victory, when he lacks the lawful authority and vires to do so.
“We are by this petition formally demanding the immediate arrest and prosecution of Mr Seyi Makinde for this grave offence. We trust you will act urgently and timeously to forestall any breakdown of law and order in the state.”
Also, Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State has been declared winner of Saturday’s governorship election in the state.
Declaring the result at the Independent National Electoral Commission state headquarters in Abakaliki, the State Returning Officer, Chukwuemeka Eze, said Mr Umahi garnered 393,343 votes across the 13 local governments areas of the state.
His closest challenger, Sonni Ogbuoji of the All Progressive Congress, APC, got 81703 votes.
The candidate of the Social Democratic Party, Chibueze Agbo, placed third with just 10129 votes.
“I hereby certify that I Prof Chukwuemeka Eze was the Returning Officer of the governorship election held on 9th math 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,” he said.
Mr Eze, who is the Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology Owerri, said the total valid votes was 482,018 while 10,984 votes were rejected bringing the total votes cast for the election to 493,002.
Mr Umahi, who was the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has thanked the people of Ebonyi state for re-electing him.
Mr Umahi, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Emmanuel Uzor, promised to consolidate on his achievement.
He also reiterated his readiness to hand over power to the Abakaliki bloc in 2023 after completing his second term.
Mr Umahi described the election as a “reflection of the wishes of the people who have been resolute and desirous of consolidating on the already achieved development in the state”.
He promised that his second term projects would include the construction of Ebonyi airport, Olympic-size stadium and completion of the already started 198 km Abakaliki ring road.
Mr Umahi said his closest rival and candidate of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Sonni Ogbuoji, was never his match.
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminialayi Fubara, has dissolved the State Executive Council.
The governor announced the cabinet dissolution yesterday in a statement titled ‘Government Special Announcement’, signed by his new Chief Press Secretary, Onwuka Nzeshi.
Governor Fubara directed all Commissioners and Special Advisers to hand over to the Permanent Secretaries or the most Senior officers in their Ministries with immediate effect.
He thanked the outgoing members of the State Executive Council for their service and wished them the best in their future endeavours.
The three-paragraph special announcement read, “His Excellency, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, GSSRS, Governor of Rivers State, has dissolved the State Executive Council.
“His Excellency, the Governor, has therefore directed all Commissioners and Special Advisers to hand over to the Permanent Secretaries or the most Senior officers in their Ministries with immediate effect.
“His Excellency further expresses his deepest appreciation to the outgoing members of the Executive Council wishing them the best in their future endeavours.”
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday told the National Assembly that it requires N873.78bn to conduct the 2027 general elections, even as it seeks N171bn to fund its operations in the 2026 fiscal year.
INEC Chairman, Prof Joash Amupitan, made the disclosure while presenting the commission’s 2026 budget proposal and the projected cost for the 2027 general elections before the National Assembly Joint Committee on Electoral Matters in Abuja.
According to Amupitan, the N873.78bn election budget covers the full conduct of national polls in 2027.
An additional N171bn is needed to support INEC’s routine activities in 2026, including bye-elections and off-season elections, the commission stated.
The INEC boss said the proposed election budget does not include a fresh request from the National Youth Service Corps seeking increased allowances for corps members engaged as ad-hoc staff during elections.
He explained that, although the details of specific line items were not exhaustively presented, the almost N1tn election budget is structured across five major components.
“N379.75bn is for operational costs, N92.32bn for administrative costs, N209.21bn for technological costs, N154.91bn for election capital costs and N42.61bn for miscellaneous expenses,” Amupitan said.
The INEC chief noted that the budget was prepared “in line with Section 3(3) of the Electoral Act 2022, which mandates the Commission to prepare its election budget at least one year before the general election.”
On the 2026 fiscal year, Amupitan disclosed that the Ministry of Finance provided an envelope of N140bn, stressing, however, that “INEC is proposing a total expenditure of N171bn.”
The breakdown includes N109bn for personnel costs, N18.7bn for overheads, N42.63bn for election-related activities and N1.4bn for capital expenditure.
He argued that the envelope budgeting system is not suitable for the Commission’s operations, noting that INEC’s activities often require urgent and flexible funding.
Amupitan also identified the lack of a dedicated communications network as a major operational challenge, adding that if the commission develops its own network infrastructure, Nigerians would be in a better position to hold it accountable for any technical glitches.
Speaking at the session, Senator Adams Oshiomhole (APC, Edo North) said external agencies should not dictate the budgeting framework for INEC, given the unique and sensitive nature of its mandate.
He advocated that the envelope budgeting model should be set aside.
He urged the National Assembly to work with INEC’s financial proposal to avoid future instances of possible underfunding.
In the same vein, a member of the House of Representatives from Edo State, Billy Osawaru, called for INEC’s budget to be placed on first-line charge as provided in the Constitution, with funds released in full and on time to enable the Commission to plan early enough for the 2027 general election.
The Joint Committee approved a motion recommending the one-time release of the Commission’s annual budget.
The committee also said it would consider the NYSC’s request for about N32bn to increase allowances for corps members to N125,000 each when engaged for election duties.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on INEC, Senator Simon Along, assured that the National Assembly would work closely with the Commission to ensure it receives the necessary support for the successful conduct of the 2027 general elections.
Similarly, the Chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Bayo Balogun, also pledged legislative support, warning INEC to be careful about promises it might be unable to keep.
He recalled that during the 2023 general election, INEC made strong assurances about uploading results to the INEC Result Viewing portal, creating the impression that results could be monitored in real time.
“iREV was not even in the Electoral Act; it was only in INEC regulations. So, be careful how you make promises,” Balogun warned.
The N873.78bn proposed by INEC for next year’s general election is a significant increase from the N313.4bn released to the Commission by the Federal Government for the conduct of the 2023 general election.
President Bola Tinubu yesterday expressed grief over the death of a former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and one of Africa’s foremost literary scholars, Professor Emeritus Biodun Jeyifo.
Jeyifo passed away on Wednesday, drawing tributes from across Nigeria and the global academic community.
In a condolence message to the family, friends, and associates of the late scholar, Tinubu in a statement by his spokesperson, Bayo Onanuga, described Jeyifo as a towering intellectual whose contributions to African literature, postcolonial studies, and cultural theory left an enduring legacy.
He noted that the late professor would be sorely missed for his incisive criticism and masterful interpretations of the works of Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka.
The President also recalled Jeyifo’s leadership of ASUU, praising the temperance, foresight, and wisdom he brought to the union over the years.
Tinubu said Jeyifo played a key role in shaping negotiation frameworks with the government aimed at improving working conditions for university staff and enhancing the learning environment in Nigerian universities.
According to the President, Professor Jeyifo’s longstanding advocacy for academic freedom and social justice will continue to inspire generations.
He added that the late scholar’s influence extended beyond academia into political and cultural journalism, where he served as a mentor to numerous scholars, writers, and activists.
Tinubu condoled with ASUU, the Nigerian Academy of Letters, the Wole Soyinka Centre for Investigative Journalism, the University of Ibadan, Obafemi Awolowo University, Oberlin University, Cornell University, and Harvard University—institutions where Jeyifo studied, taught, or made significant scholarly contributions.
“Nigeria and the global academic community have lost a towering figure and outstanding global citizen,” the President said.
“Professor Biodun Jeyifo was an intellectual giant who dedicated his entire life to knowledge production and the promotion of human dignity. I share a strong personal relationship with him. His contributions to literary and cultural advancement and to society at large will be missed.”
Jeyifo was widely regarded as one of Africa’s most influential literary critics and public intellectuals. Among several honours, he received the prestigious W.E.B. Du Bois Medal in 2019.