Umahi defeats brother, 3 others to clinch Ebonyi senatorial ticket

Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, on Sunday, defeated his younger brother, Austin, and three other contestants to win the re-run All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for the state south senatorial district.

A leader of the APC’s national committee to the primary, Prof. Emmanuel Adebayo, declared Governor Umahi the winner at the end of the primaries held at the Afikpo North Local Government Council headquarters.

Adebayo announced that the governor won the contest with 250 votes, while his younger brother Austin, polled 10 votes.

“Mrs Elizabeth Chukwu polled five votes; Mrs Magareth Ibiam got three votes, while Mrs Ann Agom-Eze scored zero votes.

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“Total number of votes cast were 275; total valid votes were 268, while invalid votes were seven,” he said.

Umahi, in his acceptance speech, commended the committee for conducting a peaceful and credible primary election, noting that the APC has transparency and credibility as its watchwords.

“APC is rooted in Ebonyi and will surely sweep the electoral stakes at the 2023 general elections,” the governor assured.

A Federal High Court in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi State capital had, on July 22, dismissed a suit filed by Umahi seeking it to recognise him as the APC’s candidate for the senatorial district.

The court instead recognised Mrs Ann Agom-Eze who placed second at the May 28 primary election as the candidate but ordered a re-run of the election within 14 days.

The Star