By Jonathan Ugbal
A former Chairman of the Yala Local Government Council, Mr. Mike Usibe on Thursday emerged as the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the February 26 legislative by-elections to fill in the vacancy for the Ogoja/Yala constituency seat in the House of Representatives.
The by-election is necessitated by the swearing-in of the former occupant, Jarigbe Agom as a Senator following the decision of the Court of Appeal which sacked Dr. Stephen Odey.
The returning officer and former Deputy National Organizing Secretary of the party, Barr. Hassan Yakubu declared Usibe who polled 184 votes as winner. Barr. Godwin Offiono had 45 votes and Mrs. Margaret Odey got 5.
Yakubu who described the primaries as a “novelty exercise,” averred that “in every contest there must be a winner and a loser as God gives power. I enjoin other contestants who lost out to take it in good faith.”
He urged the other aspirants to accept their fate and charged Usibe to “carry others along.”
Usibe called on his fellow aspirants to rally around him to ensure victory at the polls. But, Mr. Offiono told CrossRiverWatch that he will consult his supporters to know before taking the next step.
He cited some irregularities in the counting of the results and said the change in venue was not properly communicated.
Initially slated for 10:00AM, at the Ogoja Area Command of the Nigeria Police Force, the accreditation of delegates was halted initially after party members claimed there was need for the Ogoja chapter Chairman, Emmanuel Odidi to be present to verify delegates.
Senator Jarigbe arrived moments later to douse tension and called for the Chapter Chairman of Yala who verified the delegates from his Local Government Area. But, Mr. Odidi was absent with some claiming that he was threatened over his support for Mr. Offiono.
But, the drama was far from over as the primaries were relocated with some party faithful saying it was based on a directive from the Police hierarchy. The election was then moved to the hall of a sports recreational centre, about 50 meters away from the Police Area Command.
There, delegates were allowed access in batches.
At the end of the voting, there were some accusations of irregularities in the counting with conflicting numbers, however, the tags showed that 235 delegates cast their votes. At the end of sorting, the total ballots matched the tags.
And, the party Chairman, Venatius Ikem, Esq. said the passion displayed by those who insisted on certain processes, will be tapped to help the PDP.
“I love the fighting spirit we witnessed at the beginning of the exercise. That is the spirit of an opposition party ready to win an election. We promise to deliver our candidate,” Ikem said, and pledged to meet all the aspirants to bring them to a round table to ensure the party emerges victorious at the February 26, 2022 polls.
Below are pictures from the primaries which was live on CrossRiverWatch Facebook.
