Ikpeazu's man wins PDP governorship primary rerun in Abia state

Okey Ahaiwe, the immediate past Chief of Staff to Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, has won the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary rerun in Abia State.

Recall the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had ordered the PDP to conduct a fresh primary to elect a governorship candidate for Abia State after the demise of the original flag-bearer, Prof. Uche Ikonne.

Meanwhile, the special congress which took place on Saturday, February 4, 2023, saw the emergence of Ikpeazu's favoured aspirant as the winner.

Ahaiwe scored a total number of 469 votes to ward off competition from his closest challengers, the current Deputy Governor of the state, Ude Oko-chukwu and Lucky Igbokwe who polled 12 votes apiece.

Other contestants were a former Chairman of the party, Senator Emma Nwaka, who recorded zero votes, and a former House of Assembly member, Sampson Orji, who polled 11 votes.

The total number of votes recorded in the exercise was 516 with 12 of them declared invalid.

Three aspirants which included a former Commissioner for Works, Bob Ogu, a businessman, Eric Opia, and a female contestant had earlier pulled out of the race to support Ahaiwe who hails from the same Local Government area as the late Ikone.

While declaring Ahaiwe as the winner, the chairman of the Abia PDP primary and governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, gave the assurance that the party will support him to win the governorship election in the state.

In his acceptance speech, the newly-elected candidate thanked the delegates for considering him worthy of flying the party's flag in the March 11, 2023 election, promising that he would bring his private and public sectors experience to bear if elected.