—-Masari, Tambuwal, Okorocha, El-Rufai, Ambode win
By Our Correspondents
Early results from Saturday’s gubernatorial and House of Assembly polls in the 29 states of the federation indicated
yesterday that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has won majority of the seats across the country, with surprising performance in erstwhile PDP strongholds like Katsina, Kaduna, Benue, Jigawa and Plateau.
The APC also swept the poll in Kano, Oyo, Ogun, Kwara, Borno, Bauchi, Lagos, Bauchi, Adamawa, and Sokoto.
Others included Zamfara, Kebbi and Jigawa.
This was an icing on the cake of the APC’s performance in the March 28 presidential election in which former Head of State General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) defeated incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) retained its power in states like Akwa Ibom, Ekiti, Enugu, Gombe, Rivers and Bayelsa.
It emerged yesterday that two former Speakers of the House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal and Aminu Bello Masari, have been elected governors in Sokoto and Katsina states respectively.
Another notable victory for the APC occurred in Kaduna, where a former minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Nasir El-Rufai, emerged winner after trouncing the PDP’s Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero.
In Lagos, with over 90 percent of votes collated across the state as at press time, it was clear that the APC’s Akinwunmi Ambode has won the election.
In Ebonyi state, the former deputy governor, Engr. Victor Umahi of the PDP was declared winner, while in Enugu state, Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, a member of the House of Representatives and also a PDP candidate, was declared winner.
The results of the elections in Imo state were still being collated as at press time, but fillers showed that incumbent governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha of the APC, was in the early lead.
In Benue, the APC candidate, Sam Ortom, emerged winner. In Akwa Ibom, Emmanuel Gabriel of the PDP was announced winner.
The APC candidate in Plateau, Barrister Simon Lalong, was in early lead as results from two local government areas were still being awaited as at press time. Announcement of the final result was postponed to today.
From Maiduguri, Blueprint gathered that the results of the elections in Borno state based on collation from 26 local government areas with the exception of Bama showed the APC won 610,352 votes, representing 94.72 percent of total votes cast. The PDP secured 34,005 votes, representing 5.28 votes. Collation is to resume at 10 a.m. today.
Despite losing and winning, candidates and notable politicians and traditional rulers, have described the polls as peaceful, except in some states.
In Kaduna, Governor Yero commended the peaceful conduct of the election in the state, just as he urged residents to shun violence and remain peaceful throughout the voting process.
The election in Kaduna state was peaceful as election materials and electoral officials arrived at the various polling units in Kaduna South and Kaduna North local government areas on time though there was delay in Chikun local government area.
Speaking shortly after casting his vote at Kaura Ward in Zaria, the governor described the peaceful electioneering process in the state as a demonstration of the democratic maturity of the people.
“We are happy that majority of our people have embraced democracy as preferred system of governance and we shall continue to encourage them through responsible leadership”, Yero said.
In Kwara, however, reports stated that the police command arrested eight persons suspected to have been involved in the disruption of public peace in Ilorin, the state capital, after the elections.
The suspects, mainly youth, were said to have been apprehended with dangerous weapons such as guns, knives, and charms, as they went about town on a shooting spree to intimidate and harass people.
Blueprint gathered that trouble started when news of victory of the APC filtered into some parts of the state at about noon.
The story was also not different in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, where journalists were threatened by hoodlums and their cameras and cars smashed.
Report reaching Blueprint stated that some reporters from Channel Television and Silverbird were beaten and their cars and cameras smashed by alleged hired thugs at Khana and Abua/Odual LGAs.
In Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni local government area in Oboseku, unit 5, thugs, allegedly wearing military uniforms, shot and killed an aged man as they invaded the unit and held everyone hostage.
An unnamed paramount ruler, according to eye witnesses, was also shot while INEC electoral materials were carted away by the thugs.
The full picture of the elections across the country is expected to emerge today.