Imo may remain under Okorocha family rule as gov, son-in-law pick APC Senate, gov tickets

Effort by Imo Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha to ensure his family members remain relevant in the political space of Imo State appears to be working out.

The governor and his son-in-law, who was his former Chief of Staff, Uche Nwosu, have grabbed the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial and governorship candidates tickets respectively.

Uche Nwosu was declared winner of a rescheduled governorship election in the state In the early hours of Sunday morning while his father in-law, who is the state’s incumbent governor grabbed APC senatorial ticket for Imo West.

APC National Working Committee (NWC) had cancelled the earlier primary which produced two aspirants, Senator Hope Uzodinma, and Nwosu as candidates and ordered for a rescheduled primary on Saturday.

The chairman of the electoral panel, Ibrahim Agbabiaka, who announced the result of the rescheduled primary said that Nwosu polled a total of 269,524 votes to defeat eight other aspirants.

According to him, the primary held in the 305 Independent National Electoral Commission’s wards across the state.

In the result announced by Agbabiaka, Uzodinma got 2,729 votes; the deputy governor of the state, Eze Madumere, 2,646 votes; Jude Ejiogu, 3,656 votes; and Chris Nlemoha, 925 votes.

Peter Gbujie, according to Agbabiaka, scored 4,855 votes; George Eche, 2,445 votes; Chima Anozie, 3,248 votes and Chuks Ololo, 6,428 votes.

“With the powers vested in me as the state returning officer, I hereby declare Uche Nwosu as the winner of the 2018 governorship primary in Imo State for the 2019 general election,” Agbabiaka said.

Meanwhile, earlier on Saturday Uzodinma and five other aspirants, Madumere, Gbujie, Nlemoha, Eche, and Ejiogu had announced that they would not be taking part in the rescheduled primary.

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They had asked the party to declare Uzodinma as the winner of the canceled primary.

On the senatorial primary for Imo West, the panel announced that Governor Okorocha polled 141,117 votes to defeat Uzodinma and Osita Izunaso, who got 1,359 and 24 votes respectively.

 

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