By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor
THe last word for now in the 2015 general elections came to an end yesterday after the results in three governorship contests and a major Senate contest were released. There were no surprises in the trend in the three governorship contests in Imo, Abia and Taraba as the leaders proceeded to an end with no jolt.
Expectations from some that Senator Aisha Alhassan would become the first female in Nigeria’s history to be elected a governor were dashed when the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP’s governorship candidate in Taraba overwhelmingly confirmed the supremacy of the party in the state.
The PDP candidate, Darius Ishiaku according to the results released yesterday came tops with 53,120 votes to boost her total votes after the April 11 election to 360,318 votes while Alhassan, who was credited with 13,599 votes yesterday now, came to a total of 275,985 votes.
Besides her female gender, Senator Alhassan was also running to upturn another record, the fact that no Muslim had been elected governor of the largely Christian dominated state.
Besides the religious and ethnic sentiments that resonated in the Taraba contest, Mama Taraba as Alhassan is fondly called was cast against the state’s dominant power brokers who were determined to stop a Muslim from taking over control again.
Stormy opposition
Remarkably, Alhassan has paid her political dues, having masterminded stormy opposition to Governor Danbaba Suntai before the plane crash that put the governor out of everyday life.
Ishaku-Darius
However, the declaration of Governor Rochas Okorocha of the APC as the winner of the governorship contest in Imo State is one that is bound to further sharpen the division in the state. Opposition to Governor Okorocha is as sharp as emotional support for him, and that view was reflected after the commission declared him as winner of the election yesterday.
On one hand a band of supporters stormed the streets in wild celebration of the return of the maverick governor while on the other hand a number of people wore forlorn faces in seeming indignation of the return to power of the very man that they hate.
Okorocha polled a total of 416,996 votes to defeat his closest rival, Chief Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP who scored a total of 320,705 votes. The vote puts an end to Ihedioha’s 12 year run in elected public office since his first election to the House of Representatives in 2003.
Okorocha’s victory is bound also, to elicit interest from stakeholders in the state on the preponderance of the Orlu Senatorial District over the governorship of the state. Given the eight year stewardship of Chief Achike Udenwa who is from Orlu Senatorial District, and now, another eight years from Okorocha who is from Orlu, it would mean that the other two senatorial districts – Okigwe and Owerri – would have only held the governorship for four years.
The question of marginalisation was, however, reversed in the contest in Abia State where Okeize Ikpeazu, the candidate of the PDP, was returned as governor-elect after polling the majority of votes in the election that concluded on Saturday.
In the results declared yesterday, Ikpeazu polled a total of 264, 713 votes to defeat Dr. Alex Otti of the All Progressive Grand Alliance [APGA] who polled 180,882 votes.
The import of the result was that for the first time, the Ukwa Ngwa people of the state would be producing a governor for the state.
The beckon of history was evident in the agitation of the Ukwa Ngwa people who felt that the hard tackles from Otti, the APGA candidate was another attempt at denying the people the opportunity of governing the state. That was despite agitation from some partisans of Otti that their man should also be regarded as an Ukwa Ngwa man. That claim was something that was fiercely rebuffed by some leading lights of the Ukwa Ngwa including the former president of the Senate, Senator Adolphus Wabara who saw the threat from Otti as that of a usurper.
However, supporters of Otti, on the other hand, saw Ikpeazu as the possible continuation of the perceived years of inaction of the outgoing governor, Chief Theodore Orji. But for the Ukwa Ngwa elders, their agitation was Ikpeazu or nothing.
But given the high stakes as reflected by Otti’s resignation from his plum job in Diamond Bank, yesterday’s announcement is not expected to be the last to be heard of the election.
Electoral frustrations
The conclusion of the Delta Central senatorial election, however, put an end to the electoral frustrations of one of the most formidable political leaders of the state.
At the height of his political supremacy during the James Ibori years, Chief Ighoyota Amori was considered the Mr. Fix It of Delta State. He carried about in Delta State just as Chief Tony Anenih carried about in Nigeria. But despite his swagger he remained almost on the losing side in every election since 2007, having repeatedly been defeated in his bid for the Senate.
Amori, who flew the ticket of the PDP, achieved victory at the cost of Obasi Ovie Omo-Agege, the Labour Party candidate, who has himself, also serially contested for several offices in the state.
Amori was yesterday declared to have polled a total of 116, 0723 votes to defeat Omo-Agege, who got 76,635. Omo-Agege has, however, promised to challenge the result in court on the premise that the election was characterised by irregularities.
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