Politics
Senatorial By- election: APC Wins in Ondo, PDP in Rivers – THISAGE
By Ayo Kehinde
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has further strengthened its political dominance in Ondo State after its candidate, Professor Dayo Faduyile, secured a decisive victory in Saturday’s Ondo South Senatorial District bye-election, defeating candidates of opposition parties by a wide margin across the district’s six local government areas.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officially declared Faduyile winner on Sunday after the collation of results at the election centre in Okitipupa, headquarters of Okitipupa Local Government Area.
INEC Returning Officer, Professor Gbenga Solomon-Ibileye, Vice Chancellor of Federal University Lokoja, announced that Faduyile polled 68,474 votes to emerge winner of the keenly contested senatorial election.
According to the official result announced by INEC, Adeolu Akinwunmi of the Allied People’s Movement (APM) finished in a distant second position after polling 1,411 votes.
Other candidates recorded significantly lower figures, with Adesanya Olaoluwa of the Action People’s Party (APP) scoring 213 votes, while Clement Funso-Nejo of the Boot Party (BP) garnered 70 votes.
INEC disclosed that the total number of votes cast during the exercise stood at 70,770, while 602 votes were rejected after collation.
Speaking shortly after the declaration of results, Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mutiu Agboke, described the exercise as a critical operational test for future elections, particularly preparations toward the 2027 general elections.
Agboke noted that although a few operational challenges were encountered during the conduct of the poll, the lessons learned would help the commission improve future electoral processes. He expressed satisfaction over the peaceful conduct of the exercise and commended electoral officers deployed to difficult terrains, especially riverine communities within the senatorial district.
“The results of the election reflected the people’s voice and thank God that all INEC staff who went to the riverine areas came back safely and there was no negative report anywhere,” Agboke said.
The bye-election was conducted across six local government areas that make up Ondo South Senatorial District, including Okitipupa Local Government Area, Ilaje Local Government Area, Ese Odo Local Government Area, Irele Local Government Area, Odigbo Local Government Area, and Ile Oluji Oke-Igbo Local Government Area.
The election became necessary following the appointment of former senator Jimoh Ibrahim as Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, thereby creating a vacancy in the district’s representation in the Senate.
In Rivers State, INEC declared Olaka Nwogu of the Peoples Democratic Party as the winner of the Rivers South-East Senatorial District by-election in Rivers State, following a sweeping victory in Saturday’s poll.
Announcing the official results, INEC said Nwogu secured a total of 47,961 votes, defeating candidates of other participating political parties by a wide margin across the seven local government areas that make up the senatorial district.
According to the final tally released by the electoral body, the PDP candidate polled 47,961 votes to emerge victorious, while the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) garnered 1,647 votes. The Action Alliance (AA) came third with 1,175 votes, while the Labour Party (LP) finished with 367 votes.
The former member of the House of Representatives contested the election under the platform of the PDP and is widely regarded as a key figure within the political structure aligned with the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike.
THEWILL reports that all four political parties that participated in the election — PDP, APC, AA and LP, are part of what has become known in Rivers political circles as Wike’s “Rainbow Coalition,” a broad alliance of political interests believed to be working in concert in the state.
Sources within the coalition had earlier indicated that the alliance collectively settled on Senator-elect Olaka Nwogu as its preferred candidate ahead of the election, a development that significantly shaped the dynamics of the contest and contributed to his overwhelming performance at the polls.
The by-election was conducted to fill the vacancy created by the death of former senator representing the district, Barry Mpigi, who passed away in February, necessitating a fresh election to determine his successor in the upper legislative chamber.
Nwogu’s emergence is expected to further strengthen the influence of the Wike-backed political bloc in Rivers State.
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