The presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi has congratulated the winner of the just-concluded Abia State Governorship Election, Alex Otti, saying the will of voters in the South-East state was respected with Otti’s declaration as governor-elect.
Obi, who spoke with Otti shortly after his victory on Wednesday evening, said, “I am gratified that the will and wish freely expressed by the Abia electorate have been respected.”
I pray for God’s guidance and protection for the incoming Governor of God’s Own State,” he tweeted.
Otti, the LP candidate, trounced his main rivals like Okey Ahiwe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples Party (YPP).
Otti scored 175,467, Ahiwe polled 88,529 while Nwafor got 28,972. The LP candidate also won 10 of the 17 local government areas in the state, PDP got six while the YPP got one.
Otti won at his third attempt. He was the candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) in the 2015 and 2019 elections.
As it stands, the results of 26 of the 28 governorship elections have been announced. The All Progressives Congress (APC) won in 15 states, PDP in nine, LP in one while the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) won Kano. The elections in Kebbi and Adamawa were declared inconclusive.
In all, the ruling APC won in 15 states, including seven re-elected governors Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Mai Mala Muni (Yobe), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), Babagana Zulum (Borno).
The party also secured wins for eight new candidates: Umar Namadi (Jigawa), Ahmed Aliyu (Sokoto), Dikko Radda (Katsina), Uba Sani (Kaduna), Bassey Otu (Cross River), Mohammed Bago (Niger), Hyacinth Alia (Benue), and Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi).
On the other hand, the PDP secured nine victories including two reelected governors: Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Bala Mohammed (Bauchi).
Seven first-term governors were also elected on the platform of the opposition party. They are Peter Mbah (Enugu), Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Siminialayi Fubara (Rivers), Kefas Agbu (Taraba), Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau), and Sheriff Oborevwori (Delta).
In a historic win, PDP’s Dauda Lawal unseated Zamfara State Governor and APC powerbroker in Zamfara, Bello Matawalle.
In a similar fashion, Abba Kabir of the NNPP unseated the APC in Kano State while LP’s Alex Otti won Abia which had been a PDP state in the last couple of years.