Another aspirant, Asue Ighodalo, has been declared the winner of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP governorship primary election, which took place in Benin City in Edo State on Thursday.
Gatekeepers News reports that in the parallel election, Ighodalo defeated about nine other candidates including the Deputy Governor of the state, Philip Shaibu in the election.
He polled a total of 577 votes to become the candidate of the PDP in the September 21 governorship election in the state while his closest rival garnered one vote.
The Chairman of the Edo PDP Primary Electoral Committee, Governor Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State declared him as the winner of the exercise.
A total of 10 aspirants had contested for the ticket, while some of the aspirants, including Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama and Omosede Igbinedion, withdrew participation in the election.
While Ogbeide-Ihama blamed irregularities and corrupted processes by the national working committee of the party for his withdrawal from the race, Igbinedion stepped down for Asue Ighodalo.
Meanwhile, Gatekeepers News reports that the State Deputy Governor, Philip Shaibu emerged as the PDP governorship candidate in another parallel Congress which was held in the state on Thursday.
While some delegates were being accredited to proceed to the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium venue of the primary election, another set of delegates met in a facility in Commercial Avenue where they announced Shaibu as the elected candidate of the PDP.
Nevertheless, Ighodalo in his acceptance speech, thanked the state governor, Godwin Obaseki, and the entire people of the state for their love and support.
He noted that Obaseki has laid the foundation for him to build upon if eventually elected governor.
Ighodalo promised to assemble young men and women for his government to turn the state around.
He said, “I must thank the entire people of Edo State for their support and most especially the Governor Godwin Obaseki for the confidence he has in me.
“Governor Obaseki has laid the foundation for me to build upon if I am eventually voted as governor of the state. I will assemble young men and women that are capable of turning the fortunes of the state around.”
