Nsukka, the Enugu’s Northern District, halts Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s ambition to return to the National Assembly after his tenure.

Ugwuanyi served as a Representative for 12 years and from there won election to serve an additional eight as governor. He wanted to continue as a Senator before meeting his waterloo last Saturday 25 February.

Voters of Enugu North District rewarded the governor with a modest 29 percent of their votes. Ugwuanyi garnered 46,948 votes (29%) to trail Mr. Okey Ezea of the Labour Party who was elected with 104,492 votes (64%).

Ambassador Ejike Simon Eze of the APC came a distant third with 6,816 votes (4%). No other candidate scored up to 1% of the votes cast overall.

INEC Returning Officer for Enugu North District, Prof Chukwuemeka Ubaka, announced the result Saturday night, to a wild applause.

Ironically, ADC candidate, Emmanuel Chika Idoko, who sued to remove Ugwuanyi and other PDP candidates from the ballot, was rewarded with a paltry 344 votes.

Save for a couple of victories in Enugu East and West, the elections were a total disaster for the governor’s ruling party.

In Enugu West, Mr. Osita Ngwu of the PDP surprised pundits by powering through to win the Senate seat.

His victory was all the more remarkable because it came at the expense of veteran politician, Oguerinwa Amadi, of the Labour Party.

Amadi, currently serving as a Representative, is a three-term  member of the Federal House.

In Enugu West, Representative Nnoli Nnaji, was the sole survivor. The Chair of House Committee on Aviation is very popular among his Nkanu East/West for keeping faith with his constituents.

Most excited citizens described the Enugu election as “a waterloo for the PDP” which held Enugu in an iron grip for the past 24 years.

Consequently, all PDP candidates hand-picked by the governor for the National Assembly elections failed in their various constituencies.

The Labour Party victories signpost the onset of a potential demolition of the PDP structure in Enugu. A lot will however depend on what happens on 11 March 2023 after the Governorship and House of Assembly elections.

Enugu PDP had latched on a simple strategy of asking party members to vote for the Labour presidential candidate. They were asked to convince voters to return the favour by voting PDP for Senate and House elections.

Enugu Metro checks show that initial reception to this idea broke down on Friday when the Governor allegedly directed stakeholders to convince voters to back PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar.

The Governor’s action provoked a storm that drowned all PDP candidates in the election.

Nsukka halts Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s ambition. Take a listen:

Author

If you love this, click a button below to share the knowledge