Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has picked the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket to run for a second term in the 2023 governorship election.
There was, however, no real contest as the incumbent governor was endorsed via voting by delegates at the primaries held Thursday at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan.
Adamu Yuguda, chairman of the APC electoral committee/returning officer for Lagos, announced that Sanwo-Olu secured 1,170 votes to clinch the party governorship ticket.
He said 1,225 ad hoc delegates were expected at the special state congress to choose the party’s candidate for the 2023 election while 1, 198 delegates were accredited across the 20 local government areas of the state.
“For those who have been murmuring, we have three aspirants that purchased forms in Abuja. Three of them went for screening, one was cleared and two were disqualified.
“The total number of voters are 1, 225; total number of accredited votes – 1,198; the total votes cast – 1,182, the total number of valid votes -1,170 while the invalid votes are 12.
“So, the candidate with the highest number of votes is Governor Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu who scored 1,170 votes.
In his acceptance speech, Sanwo-Olu appreciated the electoral committee, supporting staff and all delegates for finding him worthy to be the party’s flag bearer.
In Delta State, the deputy Senate president, Ovie Omo-Agege was elected as the governorship candidate of the APC.
Omo-Agege, who polled a total of 1,190 votes, was returned unopposed by a total of 1,235 accredited delegates of the party at the APC governorship primaries held on Thursday in Asaba.
Read also: 2023: Akinlade, Otegbeye kick as Abiodun emerges Ogun APC guber candidate
The event which was held at the premises of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Asaba, saw the deputy Senate president emerge as the sole aspirant in the primaries.
Announcing the results, the APC returning officer, Oyibo Nwaneri, declared Omo-Agege as the winner, having polled the majority of the votes cast.
Omo-Agege expressed joy over the smooth conduct of the primaries and thanked his supporters and the entire APC family in Delta.
“With my emergence as the party flag bearer for the 2023 governorship in Delta, the APC is very determined to take over the reign of affairs in Delta.”
In Ogun State, the duo of Adekunle Akinlade and Biyi Otegbeye, who were the governorship aspirants of the ruling APC, kicked against the result of the party’s primary election which produced incumbent Governor Dapo Abiodun as the candidate of the party for the 2023 governorship election.
The aggrieved aspirants questioned the credibility of the electoral panel headed by Wale Ohu and the delegates list used for the exercise, concluding that the Wale Ohu-led APC electoral committee was unfair to other aspirants and therefore could not conduct free, fair and credible primaries.
Governor Abiodun contested the election against five other aspirants, Adekunle Akinlade, Biyi Otegbeye, Modele Sarafa-Yusuf, Owodunni Opayemi and Remi Bakare. He polled a total of 1,168 votes to defeat his opponents who scored no vote.
Ohu announced Abiodun as the winner of the election after delegates drawn from the 236 wards within the 20 local government areas of the state cast their votes.
According to Ohu, 1,180 delegates were accredited for the election and Governor Dapo Abiodun emerged the winner, having polled 1,168 votes.
In the same vein, Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara also emerged winner of the APC governorship primary election. Matawalle was elected unopposed.
Matawalle’s emergence would give him the opportunity to contest for the second term as governor of the state in the 2023 general elections.
Declaring Matawalle as the winner, the chairman of the committee for governorship primary elections in the state, Babagana Tijjani-Banki, said out of 735 delegates, 733 votes were validly cast.
“Based on the power vested on me as chairman of the APC governorship primary election in the state, I am happy to declare Bello Matawalle winner of the APC governorship candidate for the 2023 general elections,” he said
In his acceptance speech, Matawalle described his election as peaceful and historic.
“I wish to express my gratitude to Almighty Allah for attending and completing this exercise. I commend our delegates and all stakeholders of the party for the successful primary election,” Matawalle said.
