Connect with us

Politics

2023 Polls: Ten Serving, Ex-governors Swept By Election Tsunami

Published

on

The National Assembly election has produced a tsunami that has claimed a lot of political casualties, particularly among governors and ex-governors.

DAILY POST reports that ten serving and ex-governors lost their senatorial bid in the just concluded 25th February election.

Advertisement

Here are the governors and former governors that were swept apart by the election tsunami.

Abubakar Bagudu

The governor of Kebbi State lost his bid to return to the senate. He was defeated by a former governor of the state, Adamu Aleiro.

Advertisement

Mr Aleiro was in the APC before he defected to the Peoples Democratic Party and picked the ticket of the party. Aleiro defeated his successor.

Samuel Ortom

In the build up to the election, the governor of Benue State had expressed his willingness to sacrifice his senatorial ambition for the presidential aspiration of Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

Advertisement

Well, it appears the sacrifice was accepted, as he lost the election; however, Mr Obi equally did not win.

READ ALSO: Tinubu’s Victory: Peter Obi Makes First Statement

Ortom was defeated by Titus Zam, his former Special Adviser on Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs.

Advertisement

Mr Zam polled 143,151 votes to defeat Ortom who scored 106,882.

Tanko Almakura

The tsunami also removed Tanko Almakura, the former Governor of Nasarawa State. He lost his re-election bid for Nasarawa South senatorial district.

Advertisement

Almakura was defeated by Mohammed Onawo of the Social Democratic Party. Onawo got 93,064 votes to defeat Mr Al-Makura who polled 76,813 votes.

Simon Lalong

The governor of Plateau State and Director General of Bola Tinubu presidential campaign council was also displaced.

Advertisement

He was defeated by Bali Ninkap Napoleon of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Napoleon got 148,844 votes to defeat Governor Lalong of APC with 91,674 votes for the Plateau South Senatorial district.

Kabiru Gaya

Advertisement

The former Governor of Kano became a victim of Rabiu Kwankwaso’s wave in Kano.

He was defeated by Kawu Samaila of the New Nigeria Peoples Party.

Gaya was a governor in the short-lived third republic.

Advertisement

Ifeanyi Ugwanyi

Incumbency failed to save Enugu Governor Ugwanyi from the cold hands of defeat on Saturday.

His bid to return to the National Assembly was truncated by the Obedient movement in Enugu State.

Advertisement

Okey Ezea of the Labour Party got a landslide victory as he polled 104, 492 votes to defeat his closest rival, Gov Ugwuanyi, who got 46, 948 votes.

Ben Ayade

Mr Ayade, known for his big grammar, also lost on Saturday.

Advertisement

The incumbent Senator, Jarigbe Agom-Jarigbe of the Peoples Democratic Party got 76,145 votes, while Ayade polled 56,595.

Ayade was in the senate from 2011 to 2015; however, his attempt to return to the Red Chamber has been truncated.

Okezie Ikpeazu

Advertisement

The Governor of Abia State failed to achieve what his predecessor, Theodore Orji accomplished, which is moving to the Senate after finishing his two terms as governor.

Ikpeazu was defeated by the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Enyinnaya Abaribe.

READ ALSO: Man Slumps, Dies During Fight Over Parking Space

Advertisement

In fact, Mr Ikpeazu came a distant third behind the Labour Party (LP) candidate, Chinedu Onyeizu.

Darius Ishaku

The governor of Taraba State also tasted defeat on Saturday as he was beaten by David Jimkuta of the APC.

Advertisement

Mr Jimkuta polled 85,415 votes to defeat the incumbent governor and candidate of the PDP who polled 45,708 votes.

Sam Egwu

The sojourn of the former Governor of Ebonyi, Sam Egwu has temporarily been suspended after he was defeated at the poll on Saturday.

Advertisement

Mr Egwu, a former Minister for Education has been in the Senate since 2015.

He was defeated by the candidate of the APC and former State Chairman of the PDP, Peter Nwebonyi.

Nwebonyi got 65,863 votes. His closest opponent, Anselem Enigwe of the Labour Party scored 42,283 to emerge second, while Senator Egwu of PDP came a distant third with 26,569 votes.
DAILY POST

Advertisement

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Comments

Politics

VIDEO: How Peter Obi Betrayed Me – Kenneth Okonkwo In New Interview

Published

on

Veteran actor and ex-spokesperson of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Kenneth Okonkwo, has accused former presidential candidate, Peter Obi, of betrayal in the wake of internal party disputes.

In a viral interview with Symfoni which started trending on Saturday, Okonkwo, who officially exited the Labour Party in February 2025, revealed that Obi went against his advice and returned to support the embattled Julius Abure-led faction of the party, despite alleged warnings.

Advertisement

According to him, Obi was misled by LP executives who claimed that the Independent National Electoral Commission had recognised them.

He said, “Any politician that knows what he’s doing cannot be betrayed by another. If there is anybody that betrayed the other, I can say it emphatically that Peter Obi betrayed me.

READ ALSO: Nigeria No Longer A Democracy, Peter Obi Laments

Advertisement

“The Julius Abure-led LP members lied to Obi that the Independent National Electoral Commission had accepted them and Obi surreptitiously went back to them but I told him: ‘Sir, you have made a public statement on integrity and even if INEC has accepted them, that is not a criterion for you to go back and start dealing with them because they have shown that they are not democratic. If you go back to them, they will destroy your political career and everything you have said about integrity will die.’”

He said that despite privately urging Obi not to align with a group he described as “undemocratic” and “agents of the government,” Okonkwo said Obi went ahead to publicly endorse them.

“I told Obi that these people had become agents in the hands of the government to destabilise him. What they did was absolutely illegal and unconstitutional, I told him that if he went back to them, I wouldn’t join him in doing so.

Advertisement

“Thereafter, I called all the people that were in the inner circle and told them the same thing about what Obi was trying to do. I told them he wanted to go back with the Abure people and if he did, I wouldn’t go back with him because I do not swallow back my words.

READ ALSO: Teen Who Stood In Front Of Peter Obi’s Convoy Freed After Months In Kirikiri

“And after saying all those things, within like 72 hours, Obi went back to Abure’s office to publicly endorse them and while he was there talking to them, one of the leaders in that executive sent me the video to mock me that the person I was fighting for against them has come to their office to endorse them.

Advertisement

“It was when INEC dissociated itself from Abure that Obi came out to start acting neutral but I told him he could not be neutral and something had to be done,” he added.

The Labour Party has been embroiled in a prolonged leadership crisis, with opposing factions laying claim to the party’s national structure.

The Abure-led faction has faced allegations of financial mismanagement and anti-democratic practices, which critics say contradict the party’s reformist image.

Advertisement

Okonkwo, a known loyalist of Obi’s political ideology, cited these irregularities as his reason for quitting the party earlier in the year.

Watch video below:

https://twitter.com/i/status/1933867577651925202https://twitter.com/i/status/1933867577651925202

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Politics

Amaechi Slams Tinubu’s Policies In Fresh Outburst

Published

on

Former Minister of Transportation and two-time governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has asked the coalition opposition to kick President Bola Tinubu out of office if Nigeria is to escape its deepening economic crisis.

In a no-holds-barred interview with the BBC, Amaechi, a founding member and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, lamented the country’s deteriorating condition and signalled his willingness to help forge a new opposition coalition to rescue the nation.

Advertisement

People are dying. People are starving. I myself am feeling the effects of hunger,” he said, painting a grim picture of life under the current administration.

Amaechi’s statement comes in the wake of the APC’s recent endorsement of Tinubu as its sole presidential candidate for 2027, a move Amaechi openly questioned.

READ ALSO: I Don’t Want To Join Issues With Children, Amaechi Hits Back At Wike

Advertisement

While reiterating his loyalty to the party, he warned that fidelity to a political platform should never come at the cost of national conscience.

If the government is failing the country, you don’t just go along because you’re in the same party. You know that’s not right,” he stated emphatically.

Though he stopped short of confirming a 2027 presidential bid, the former minister said the option remained on the table.

Advertisement

“Certainly, I believe I can make a meaningful contribution,” he added, hinting that his political journey may not yet be over.

READ ALSO: Democracy Day: Gov. Mohammed Advocates Unity, Good Governance

He spoke of widespread poverty, spiralling food insecurity, and daily tragedies that now dot the national landscape.

Advertisement

Reflecting on his years as Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Amaechi lamented that the number of out-of-school children then pegged at 10 million, had since ballooned.

The economic hardship, he said, had also deepened insecurity.

“The Boko Haram insurgency is not just a religious crisis. Many of those involved are driven by desperation and hunger,” he asserted, linking terrorism, banditry, and kidnapping to a broader socioeconomic collapse.

Advertisement

Amaechi’s declaration added momentum to an emerging political realignment.

 

Talks were already underway among key opposition figures, including Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party and Peter Obi of the Labour Party, as they explored the possibility of a unified front against Tinubu in 2027.

Advertisement

Even ex-Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State and once a key Tinubu ally had signalled interest in backing an opposition alliance.

But as opposition forces stir, the ruling party continues to absorb defectors, prompting fears of Nigeria drifting toward a one-party state, a scenario Amaechi warned could undermine democracy and silence dissent.

We’re thinking that if we come together and win the election, the country will certainly witness change,” he said, suggesting an urgent need for a credible alternative.

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Politics

UNN Best Graduate Wins £33,000 Com

Published

on

A student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka’s with the overall best graduating CGPA of 4.98, Chizoba Ejiofor, has secured a fully funded Commonwealth scholarship.

Education advocate and tech entrepreneur Alex Onyia, who made this known on social media on Thursday, said he had taken responsibility for supporting Ejiofor after the university failed to award him the promised N50,000 prize for academic excellence.

Advertisement

I have a good news. A very good news. You remember Chizoba Ejiofor, who graduated as UNN overall best graduating student with CGPA of 4.98, that UNN refused to fulfill the N50k price promised to him?

READ ALSO: Crisis Brews In UNN As Court Restrains Varsity From Conducting Convocation Election

“I took him up as a full responsibility. We started working tirelessly together since last year to secure a fully funded scholarship, and today we have the good news,” Onyia wrote.

Advertisement

Onyia revealed that Ejiofor was awarded a fully funded Commonwealth scholarship, valued at over £33,000. The package includes tuition, flight tickets, and monthly stipends.

This is fully funded scholarship from Commonwealth. Over 33 thousand pounds in scholarship, flight tickets and monthly stipends inclusive. No one can describe how happy and fulfilled I am today,” he added.

 

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Trending