Guber polls: Uzodimma, Diri in early lead, as Ododo, Ajaka battle for Kogi

Godwin Onoh November 12, 2023

After Saturday’s governorship elections in Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa states, indications emerged that governors Douye Diri of Bayelsa State and Hope Uzodimma of Imo State were in early lead, as collation of results progressed.

In Bayelsa State, Diri, who is seeking re-election, is the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, while Uzodimma, also seeking re-election, is the candidate of the All Progressives Congress.

However, in Kogi State, it’s a tight race between Usman Ododo of the APC and Muri Ajaka of the Social Democratic Party. The candidate of the PDP, Dino Melaye, is also a major contender in the election.

In Bayelsa State, for example, the computation of votes in 131 random polling units across some local government areas showed that PDP’s Diri already garnered 13, 396 votes, while his closest challenger, APC’s Timipre Sylva, garnered 4,802 votes.

In Imo State, the computation done by our correspondents in 90 polling units, which cuts across different local government areas, showed that APC’s Uzodinma polled 22,113 votes, while the candidate of the PDP, Samuel Anyanwu, and that of the Labour Party, Senator Athan Achonu, garnered 1,452 and 1,658 votes respectively.

In Kogi State, where the exercise is believed to be a three horse race, the calculation across 149 polling units scattered across five local government areas showed that APC’s Adodo scored 21,047 votes, followed by SDP’s Ajaka, with 7,324 votes and PDP’s Melaye with 2,529 votes. Meanwhile, Ajaka was found to have polled massive votes in Kogi East senatorial district, where he hails from.

As of 11:03pm, the IReV portal indicated that in Bayelsa State, 85.29 per cent of the results had been uploaded, as 1,914 polling unit results had been uploaded out of the 2,242 total polling units.

For Imo State, as of 11:18pm, the portal indicated that out of the 4,758 total polling units, 4,287 polling units had been uploaded, representing 90.1 per cent.

For Kogi State, as of 11:20pm, the portal indicated that out of 3,508 polling units, 3,064 polling units had been uploaded, representing 87.34 per cent.