By Emeke Alexander
The Deputy President of the Nigerian Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege on Thursday emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Delta State.
The Delta APC gubernatorial primary was held at the Federal College of Education (Technical) on Ibusa Road, Asaba, the state capital.
Omo-Agege emerged as the APC governorship candidate through a consensus process with a total of 1,190 votes and one invalid vote
Out of a total of 1,350 delegates enlisted to participate in the party’s governorship primary, only 1,235 delegates were duly accredited from the three senatorial districts of the state and voted at the primary.
Speaking earlier at the occasion, the Chairman of the 5-man Governorship Primary Committee, Mrs Oyibo Nwaneri, assured that despite the fact that the primary was consensus, every delegate must be accredited and identified to ensure they were the right persons.
She added that after accreditation, the number of delegates accredited would be announced before proper voting would commence, to enable delegates to cast their votes for their preferred candidate.
The Secretary of the Committee, Ambassador Elijah Onyeagba disclosed that a number of items were requested for the primary and have been provided.
The items he said, include the APC Constitution, 2022 Amended Electoral Act, delegates list and voting materials among others.
Also, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Resident Commissioner in Delta State, Rev. Monday Udoh Tom, said that the Commission was monitoring the process in line with the provisions of the amended Electoral Act 2022 which empowered them to monitor the processes of political parties’ internal democracy.
Tom explained that even if the candidate was unopposed, proper voting must be done after accreditation and results announced before the process is validated.
He advised that the process be conducted peacefully and orderly.
Reacting to his emergence as the Delta APC Governorship candidate, Omo-Agege commended the process and thanked the party for choosing him as the flag bearer for the 2023 general elections.
He urged Deltans to assess the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and vote for him as their Governor if they are not satisfied with what the PDP has offered in the past 24 years.
