FOR the third consecutive week, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the weekend continued in its winning streak at state and national elections across the nation.
Except in Lagos and Imo states where the Action Congress (AC) and the Peoples Progressive Alliance (PPA) came out strong, the PDP maintained its landslide victory in the rescheduled and bye-elections for the Senate, House of Representatives and state legislatures in Oyo, Ogun, Rivers, Yobe and Kwara states.
In Ogun State, for instance, the ruling party won all the three senatorial and one State House of Assembly seats.
It repeated the same feat in Yobe State where the party clinched all the National Assembly and the state House of Assembly seats except in Katungo South state constituency where the AC held sway.
The AC reaffirmed its status as the party to beat in Lagos when it clinched all seats, for which polls were repeated.
The party won the remaining two senatorial slots – Lagos West and Lagos Central. The AC won Lagos East Senatorial seat a fortnight ago. It also defeated the PDP and others in the remaining six House of Representatives seats, thereby pocketing the 24 seats on offer.
For the State House of Assembly, the party won the Amuwo-Odofin (I) constituency seat. It now has 37 lawmakers-elect for the 40-member House. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has three seats (Ibeju-Lekki (I), Ibeju-Lekki (II) and Badagry.
According to results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday in Lagos, AC’s Ganiyu Olarewaju Solomon won the Lagos West Senatorial seat with 340,750 votes. PDP’s Aina Tugbobo scored 80,527 votes.
In Lagos East, Munirudeen Adekunle Muse of the AC got 118,275 votes to beat Demola Seriki (30,022 votes) of PDP, who was his closest challenger.
The figures showed the deep-seated apathy that greeted the elections.
For example, in Lagos West Senatorial District, which has 10 local councils with about two million registered voters, only 429,278 valid votes or 21.46 per cent of the registered voters participated.
The House of Representatives seats that were contested for at the weekend were Ojo, Ifako-Ijaiye, Kosofe, Eti-Osa, Amuwo-Odofin and Ibeju-Lekki.
The PPA produced an upset in Imo State where its governorship candidate, Mr. Ikedi Godson Ohakim scored 749,800 votes to defeat PDP’s Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, who got 309,373 votes.
In Oyo State, the PDP yesterday won all the seven seats contested into the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly in the weekend’s bye elections.
The elections were conducted into three House of Assembly seats of Ibadan South West I and II, Oluyole and in four House of Representatives seats of Egbeda/Ona-Ara, Ibadan North, Iseyin /Itesiwaju /Kajola /Iwajowa and Afijio /Atiba /Oyo
East/Oyo West.
The state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Stephen Manya who announced the results of the rescheduled elections, said Mr. Abass Olopoenia of the PDP emerged the winner of the Iseyin/Itesiwaju/Kajola’Iwajowa Federal Constituency by scoring 31,191 to beat the Action Congress (AC) candidate, Mr. Olabiyi Julius Oyekola who polled 25,151 votes.
In Ibadan North Federal Constituency, the PDP candidate, Gbede Waheed also won with 7,021 votes. The All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)’s Olatunji Haastrup Adewale with 5,145 votes took second position.
For the Egbeda/Ona Ara Federal Constituency, PDP’s Adegoke Adewale scored 16,579 to beat other contestants while Mudashiru Akinlabi also of PDP won the Afijio/Oyo East/Oyo West/Atiba federal constituency with 40,853 votes.
The results of the three state House of Assembly seats favoured the PDP in the same vein with Ganiyu Asimiyu Olalekan winning the Oluyole state constituency with 7,305 votes; Abiola Ayorinde Taoheed got the Ibadan South West 1 constituency with 9,548 votes; and Ayilara Abiola was returned with 18,806 votes.
The INEC boss gave himself a passmark on the conduct of the entire elections.
He said: “I see my posting to Oyo State as challenging, and I have no regret whatsoever for coming to the state to serve.”
Manya, who spoke with reporters in his office shortly after announcing the results of the bye election maintained that the elections were free, fair, transparent and peaceful.
He thanked the people of the state for their contributions to the growth of democracy in the country.
A statement issued to the reporters by INEC’s Administrative Secretary in Yobe State, Malam Usman Baba Bukar, said that ruling PDP won all the seats of the National Assembly and that of the state House of Assembly, except Kaltungo south state assembly seat, where AC won.
In Gombe/Kwami/Funkaye, Bukar said that Alhaji Abubakar Abubakar of the PDP polled 192,551 votes to emerge the winner. He was followed by Hassan Abubakar of ANPP, who scored 2,908 votes whereas Hamza Muhammad of AC had 2,510 votes.
Others include Dr. Ahmed Gana of Democratic People Party (DPP) 1,044, votes while Abdulkadiri Inuwa of the PPA (604 votes) and Muhammad Abdul Maikano, ALP who came last with only 93 votes.
In Dukku/Nafada Federal Constituency Usman Bayero of the PDP was declared the winner with 106,037 votes while Yakubu El-Rasheed of the AC came second with 1,078 votes, Sani Usman of ANPP polled 2,210 votes and Jalo Musa of DPP came last with 952 votes.
The Balanga South seat of the state assembly also went to Reuben Umaru of the PDP with 36,323 votes while Caleb Ubale of the AC polled 155 votes to emerged second and Filibus Shilgus of the ANPP had 97 votes.
The PDP has also maintained its grip in Rivers State, winning all the three senatorial and House of Representatives seats.
But the AC in the state has rejected the results and vowed to challenge them at the electoral tribunal. It described the polls as yet another disgraceful, sham, charade and predetermined election foisted on the state and her people.
According to the Resident Electoral Commissioner for the state, Mr. Rowland Uwa, the PDP candidate for Rivers West, Wilson Ake, a younger brother of the party’s National Vice Chairman (South-South) scored a total of 325,185. His counterpart in Rivers South-East, Senator Lee Meaba scored 298,360 to beat the AC candidate who polled 10,467 votes. And in the Rivers East, PDP candidate George Sekibo won with 41,5159 votes.
He also declared that PDP won all the seats in the Federal Constituencies where re-scheduled elections were held last Saturday: Gokana-Khana, Ogba /Egbema /Ndoni -Ahoada West, Asari-Toru/ Akuku-Toru, Port Harcourt 1 and Okrika-Ogu/Bolo.
The PDP is now firmly in control of all the 32 House of Assembly, 13 House of Representatives and three senatorial seats in the state.
In a swift reaction however, the AC in Rivers State rejected the results, stressing that “the conduct of the postponed Federal House of Representatives and Senatorial elections in Rivers State on 27th April, 2007 have once again exposed INEC and its unholy marriage with PDP solely contracted to perpetuate electoral malpractices in Rivers State in order to install unpopular candidates on our people.”
The party’s spokesperson, Mr. Eze. C. Eze, in a statement described as astonishing INEC’s declaration of such a huge number of votes for the PDP despite the electorate decision to shun the polling stations.
He also noted that despite the unprecedented voters’ apathy, the polls were still characterised by “hijacking and none provision of results sheets and other INEC essential documents at the polling units.”
Eze described as saddening a situation where INEC had succeeded in proving that all the hues, condemnation and uproar that trailed past elections in the state were correct.
He argued further that the leadership of INEC has continued to prove that it is just “an organ and extension of PDP and a tool in the hands of the Presidency to deny Nigerians their constitutional rights to vote for candidates of their choice.”
He disclosed that the AC governorship candidate, Tonye Princewill, and the party had vowed to reclaim the mandate of the people of Rivers State.