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–Pix(above): Five of the governors

 

No fewer than six governors of the two major political parties  –  the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have so far succumbed to much more popular candidates in their quest to clinch the senatorial positions at the last Saturday’s general elections, fuelling suspicion of their waning popularity in their respective states. And more are still expected, judging from the way things are presently unfolding.

Find below their eye-popping list and how they succumbed:

• Gov Simon Lalong of Plateau State (APC)

Plateau State Governor Simon Lalong, who is also the Director General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council (PCC), lost the bid to clinch the Plateau South Senatorial District slot to AVM Bali Ninkap Napoleon, rtd, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

While announcing the results, the Returning Officer, Prof Meshak Goyit, declared that Bali Napoleon of PDP scored a total of 148,844 votes to defeat Governor Lalong of APC with 91,674 votes while Tobias Nda of the Labour Party scored 17,325 votes.

• Gov Abubakar Bagudu of Kebbi State (APC)

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Tuesday,  announced Sen. Adamu Aliero of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as the winner of Kebbi Central Senatorial District.

The INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Abbas Yusuf-Bazata, who announced the result in Birnin Kebbi, said Aliero beat Governor Abubakar Bagudu to win the seat.

Aliero scored 126,588 votes to defeat Bagudu, the incumbent governor of Kebbi and candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who polled 92,389 votes.

 

• Gov Ben Ayade of Cross River State (APC)

Governor Ben Ayade succumbed in his bid to go to the Senate following his abysmal defeat by the incumbent Senator representing Cross River North, Jarigbe Agom-Jarigbe.

Ayade, who is serving out his two-term as Governor, sought to replace Agom-Jarigbe as the Senator.

Ayade, who was in the Senate between 2011 and 2015, lost with 56,595 votes against Agom-Jarigbe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who scored 76,145 votes.

The returning officer, Emmanuel Emanghe, who spoke on behalf of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), announced the result for the polls at about 3:05 a.m. on Monday.

• Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State (PDP)

Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi succumbed to Okechukwu Ezea of Labour Party (LP) in his senatorial bid for the Enugu North district.

Ugwuanyi, who is rounding off his second term as Governor, was the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate.

He was trounced by Ezea, the LP candidate, who polled a total of 104,492 votes to defeat him, having come second with 46,948 votes.

Professor Chukwuemeka Ubaka, who announced the result at the collation center, said Mr Ezea was declared the winner having “justified all the requirements of the law and having scored the highest number of votes in the election.”

• Gov Samuel Ortom of Benue State (PDP)

Benue Governor Samuel Ortom lost his election bid for Benue North West.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) senatorial candidate lost to his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart in the district, Titus Zam.

The APC candidate polled 143,151 while the PDP scored 106,882 and the Labour Party 51,950.

Zam was an appointee of Ortom in his first tenure from 2015 to 2019, where he served as the Special Adviser to the governor on local government and chieftaincy affairs before he resigned from the Ortom administration on loyalty grounds.

• Gov Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State (PDP)

In a political sagacity that knows no bounds, Senator Enyinnaya Harcourt Abaribe has succeeded in stopping Governor Okezie Ikpeazu from replacing him at the National Assembly as the Senator representing Abia-South Senatorial District of Abia State.

This comes as Abaribe won Saturday’s senatorial election for Abia-South after polling 49,693 votes to defeat his closest rival, Chinedu Onyeizu, of the Labour Party who got 43,903 votes.

Ikpeazu came a distant third with 28,422 votes, to the disbelief of many who expected that his status as the incumbent governor of the state would work to his advantage.

This victory may come to Abaribe as payback against Governor Ikpeazu who had previously denied him the opportunity to contest the state’s governorship election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Recall that the Ikpeazu-led Abia PDP was accused of scheming Abaribe out of the party’s governorship ticket through what some people described as a bizarre zoning arrangement.

Despite blocking Abaribe’s governorship bid, Ikpeazu purchased PDP senatorial forms and emerged as the party’s candidate to replace Abaribe in the Senate.

The development led to Abaribe’s resignation from the PDP and cost him his position as the Minority Leader in the 9th Senate.

Having lost the opportunity to contest the governorship election,Abaribe defected to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to seek reelection and stop Ikpeazu’s move to the Senate.

Abaribe had said that his exit from the PDP was due to “the shameful display of illegality, impunity, and undemocratic decision of the party.”

With this last count, three outgoing APC and equally three PDP governors have so far lost in their bid for what political pundits describe as seeking retirement refuge in the Senate of the National Assembly – and from the emerging political scenario, others may still be following suit./SHARE THIS