Guber Polls: Uzodimma, Diri In Early Lead As Ododo, Ajaka Battle For Kogi
There are indications that governors Douye Diri of Bayelsa State and Hope Uzodimma of Imo State were in early lead, as collation of results progressed in last S.atudays Gubernatorial elections in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi States.
In Bayelsa State, Diri, who is seeking re-election, is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, while Uzodimma, also seeking re-election, is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress.
However, in Kogi State, reporters who covered the election and monitored the collation of results, which was ongoing as of press time, gathered that it was a tight race between Usman Ododo of the APC and Muri Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party. The candidate of the PDP, Dino Melaye, is also a major contender in the election.
The collation of some of the results uploaded on the INEC Result Viewing portal showed the early performance of the parties.
In Bayelsa State, for example, the computation of votes in 131 random polling units across some local government areas showed that PDP’s Diri already garnered 13, 396 votes, while his closest challenger, APC’s Timipre Sylva, garnered 4,802 votes.
In Imo State, the computation of results so far declared in 90 polling units, which cuts across different local government areas, showed that APC’s Uzodinma polled 22,113 votes, while the candidate of the PDP, Samuel Anyanwu, and that of the Labour Party, Senator Athan Achonu, garnered 1,452 and 1,658 votes respectively.
In Kogi State, where the exercise is believed to be a three horse race, the calculation done by reporters across 149 polling units scattered across five local government areas showed that APC’s Adodo scored 21,047 votes, followed by SDP’s Ajaka, with 7,324 votes and PDP’s Melaye with 2,529 votes. Meanwhile, Ajaka was found to have polled massive votes in Kogi East senatorial district, where he hails from.
Also at St Paul’s Primary School Polling Units in Owerri Municipal, some voters got N2,000 each after voting. At Umuodu Community Primary School in Ihihitte-Mbieri ward in the Mabitoli LG, votes were also bought for N2,000.
A Labour Party chieftain, Kingsley Madu, said voters were intimidated and that vote-buying was rife.
The deputy governorship candidate of the LP, Tony Nwulu, claimed that his party was winning with a wide margin before APC members allegedly started moving about with thugs, snatching electoral materials, suppressing voters and buying votes.
But the APC spokesperson in the state, Cajetan Duke, refuted the claim, saying his party didn’t partake in any electoral irregularity.
Also, tension was high at the Orji Town Primary School in Owerri North as vote-buying by party agents nearly marred voting at the centre, which houses units 005, 006 and 007. The exercise was peaceful but for intermittent argument between party agents who seemed hell-bent on swaying voters with cash.
One of the voters, who confirmed that he got N3,000, said he still voted for the candidate of his choice despite collecting the money. “I took their money and still voted for the candidate of my choice,” the voter stated.
In Bayelsa State, the election was also marred by violence, intimidation and snatching of ballot boxes in some of the local government areas. The exercise also recorded poor turnout of voters across some polling units in Yenagoa, Kolokuma/Opokuma, Ekeremor, Nembe, Brass, Southern Ijaw, Sagbama and Ogbia LGs.
In Southern Ijaw LG, for instance, armed thugs reportedly stormed Olodiama and Ologbobiri communities and chased away voters and electoral officers at polling units, while voting materials were also hijacked.
A similar incident also occurred at Biseni in Yenagoa, Sagbama, Nembe and Brass LGs.
It was learnt that there a clash involving the supporters of the governing PDP and the main opposition APC at Famgbe allegedly led to the death of an unidentified person while some others were injured.
Sporadic gunshots were reportedly fired as supporters of both camps attempted to control the accreditation and voting processes early in the day.
“One person was shot dead in the Famgbe community and accreditation has not started,” a resident who preferred anonymity said. “The situation is very tense here. The APC and PDP thugs started shooting to scare loyalists on opposite sides. Both sides are blaming each other for the violence that took place.”
Also, at Agorogbene in Sagbama LG, armed thugs reportedly invaded polling units in the community and snatched ballot boxes as people ran for safety.
Meanwhile, the LP and PDP in the state traded accusations of vote-buying. The governorship candidate of the LP in the state, Udengs Eradiri, alleged that his PDP counterpart, Diri, was inducing voters with money.
But in a swift reaction, the state Commissioner for Special Duties, Sinkumo Ekisah, dismissed the claim, describing it as false alarm.
There were also reports of low voter turnout in Imo State.