PDP Struggles, As Opposition Takes Early Lead

THE aborted April 2 National Assembly election did little to dampen the enthusiasm of Nigerians to perform their civic responsibility yesterday in the rescheduled exercise. They came out massively to vote for change, which is evident in the results, which had started trickling in, as at the time of filing this report. Voters threw up surprises, as the opposition parties stoutly resisted the dominance of the ruling parties in most of the states. LAGOS: Sketchy update on elections in Lagos State indicates that the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) is having a smooth ride. In Constituency 2, the ACN polled a total of 1,038 votes, while the PDP scored 284 votes. The valid votes were 1,343 while the rejected votes were 102. The total votes cast was 1,445. The result, which was the first to be officially released by the INEC, came at 1.32am today. KADUNA: Reports coming from Vice President Namadi Sambo’s Camp Road Ward in show that the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) is leading with 265 votes in the senatorial contest. The PDP trails with 115 votes, while the ACN had 12 votes. The number of invalid votes was 40. For the House of Representatives, the CPC also led other parties with 277 votes, while the PDP, ANPP, ACN and the ADC scored 103, 3, 14 and 1 votes, in that order. A total of 33 votes were invalidated. BENUE: Unconfirmed results for Benue South senatorial district indicate that Senate President, David Mark, was leading, in at least seven of the nine local councils of the district. EDO: In Edo North senatorial district and Owan/Etsako Federal Constituency, as well as Edo South senatorial district, the ACN is said to be leading the way. However, the PDP was leading in the Central senatorial district, including the House of Representatives seat. KWARA: The situation looked rather interesting yesterday, as the ACN appeared set to claim both the North and South senatorial districts of the state. The battle for the Central senatorial district, nonetheless, looked undecided, as at press time. OYO: The ACN was leading in Oyo and Ibadan zones, with party supporters already in celebration mood this morning. DELTA: For the Delta North senatorial district, the Democratic Peoples Party (DPP), with Ned Nwoko as its candidate, was leading in eight of the nine local councils making the district. RIVERS Collated results indicate that ACN’s Abiye Sekibo lost in his ward, Okrika Ward 4, as the PDP polled 1,088 votes against ACN’s 926 votes for the House of Representatives. For the Senate, the PDP polled 1,065 votes as against ACN’s 926 votes. ENUGU: The PDP leads in Enugu East and Central senatorial districts, with the contest in Enugu North, where Senator Ayogu Eze hails from, being keenly contested between the PDP and the APGA. OGUN: Governor Gbenga Daniel, and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Dimeji Bankole, as well as Senator Iyabo Obasanjo lost in their wards. There were, however, reported sporadic gunshots following power outage at the collation centre. BORNO: As election results were collated at the various centres in Maiduguri, the PDP was leading in most of the 3,928 polling centres, with the CPC and the ANPP trailing. Governor Ali Modu Sheriff of the ANPP was, however, defeated in Bornu Central, while Hon. Mohammed Ali Ndume, who defected from the ANPP to PDP, won the seat for the Bornu South senatorial district, defeating ANPP’s candidate, Dr. Asabe Vilita Bashir with a wide margin of votes. There was a bomb blast at the Abaganaram Primary School collation centre that killed one person, injuring several others. TARABA: About 30 Youth Corps members and three INEC officials are, as at the time filing this report, are being held hostage in Wurojam village in Gasol Local Council of the state, following an election dispute that erupted between the people of Sansani village and Wurojam. This resulted in the cancellation of National Assembly elections in the two communities by INEC. It was gathered that efforts by heavily armed mobile police officers to secure the release of the Corps members and INEC staff did not succeed, as the villagers insisted on holding on to the hostages until yesterday’s elections were over. Confirming the report, the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Aliyu Musa, said elections would not take place in the two communities, even as efforts were in top gear to ensure the release of the 33 persons being held captive. The crisis was reportedly ignited when INEC failed to take cognizance of a long-time dispute between the communities by declining their request to have separate polling units. The electoral body had insisted on making the two villages use one polling unit, hence “scratching up old wounds” in the process. The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state could not be reached. However, a senior staff of INEC said the commission was aware of the incident and had decided to put elections in the two villages on hold pending the resolution of the crisis. ANAMBRA: Former Governor Chris Ngige of the ACN and his House of Reps counterpart in the Anaocha/Njikoka/Dunukofia Federal Constituency, Ferdinand Dozie Nwankwo and their parties showed signs of early lead in the poll. At the wards and polling centres monitored by The Guardian at Kindergarten Primary School Abagana Ward 111, the Accord Party polled 19 for Senate and 12 for Reps; ACN, 70 for Senate, and 81 for Reps; APGA, 76 for Senate and 61 for Reps. At polling booth 11 of Abagana Ward 111, the Accord Party polled 17 votes for Reps and 21 for Senate while the ACN polled 64 votes for Reps and 61 for the Senate. The APGA polled 51 votes for Reps and 54 for Senate; and the PDP polled 21 votes for Reps and 31 for Senate. This centre had 573 registered voters while only 262 were accredited to vote. At Enugu Ukwu Ward 1, the APGA 35 votes (Senate), 16 (Reps); PDP 7 (Senate), Reps 5 and ACN 97 (Senate) and 130 (Reps) while Accord polled 16 for Senate and 4 for Reps. IMO: The APGA leads in election results in Owerri. On-the-spot results announced at some centres showed that the party was leading, with the PDP and the ACN following in a distant second and third positions; then, the ANPP and the LP. Result at the IMSU Junction/Works Bus Stop Centre 015 showed that out of 948 registered voters, 146 were accredited, out of which APGA got 116 votes; PDP 15; ACN 12; ANPP, 2; and LP 1 vote. Results at centre 016 showed that out of 363 registered voters, 20 were accredited. At the end of voting exercise, APGA got 13, while the other parties shared the remaining seven votes. Score Card LAGOS: ACN ENUGU: PDP OGUN: ACN RIVERS: PDP ANAMBRA: APGA/ACN KADUNA: CPC/PDP ONDO: LABOUR OSUN: ACN BORNO: PDP KWARA: ACN IMO: APGA DELTA: DPP OYO: ACN By Marcel Mbamalu (Lagos), Lawrence Njoku (Enugu), Kelvin Ebiri (Port Harcourt), Saxone Akhaine (Kaduna), Chuks Collins (Awka), Simeon Nwakaudu (Makurdi) (Njavara Musa (Maiduguri), Charles Akpeji (Jalingo), Hendrix Oliomogbe (Asaba), Charles Coffie Gyamf Courtesy Of: The Guardian