2023 Polls: Lawan, Akpabio, Gbenga Daniel, Danjuma Goje Win Senate Seats

• As Gov Ayade loses bid in Cross River north
• Yobe North renews Senate President Lawan’s tenure after 22 Years

Senate President Ahmad Lawan is among some of the bi names who will serve as Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in the next political dispensation come May 29, 2023.

In defeating all comers to emerge winner of the just concluded senatorial election in Yobe North, Senator Lawan will be extending his about 22 years stint in the National Assembly.

The seat was keenly contested between the two major political parties in the State, the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The INEC Returning Officer for the zone, Professor Omolola Aduoju of the Federal University Gashua, Yobe State, who announced the result at Umar Suleiman College of Education Gashua, said Lawan polled 91,318 votes to defeat his PDP opponent, Ilu Alhaji-Bello.

The PDP candidate amassed a total of 22,849 votes out of the 122,136 total valid votes cast in the Senatorial district, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) official.

Gbenga Daniel Wins In Ogun

In Ogun State, the former Governor of Ogun State and the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial candidate for Ogun East, Otunba Gbenga Daniel, has been declared the winner of last Saturday’s election with a total of 115,147 votes.

INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Christopher Onwuka, who declared the results at the Ogun East Senatorial Collation Centre in Itoro Hall, Ijebu-Ode, said Daniel won in all nine local government areas in the senatorial district.

The LGAs are Ijebu North, Odogbolu, Remo North, Sagamu, Ijebu North East, Ijebu-Ode, Ijebu East, Ikenne and Ogun Waterside.

A breakdown of the results declared indicated that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second in the senatorial election with 58,708 votes, while the Labour Party (LP) came third after amassing 13,061 votes.

Prof Onwuka said having satisfied the requirements of the law and polling the highest number of votes, Otunba Daniel has been declared the winner of the election.

Akpabio Wins Akwa Ibom North-West Seat

In Akwa Ibom State, the immediate-past Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has won the Akwa Ibom North-West senatorial race to return to the National Assembly.

Akpabio won majority votes in the 10 Local Government Areas making up the Ikot Ekpene Senatorial District (Akwa Ibom North-West), including Ikot Ekpene, Essien Udim, Etim Ekpo, Ika, Oruk Anam and Abak LGAs.

His main challenger and former National Legal Adviser of the PDP, Emmanuel Enoidem, won in two LGAs of Ini and Obot Akara only.

Reports said Akpabio’s victory followed the resolution of some factions of the Young Progressives Congress (YPP), the ruling PDP and other political parties to surrender their structures to assist the former Senate Minority Leader in his political battle.

Senator Goje Re-Elected For 4th Term
In Gombe State, INEC declared Senator Muhammad Danjuma Goje of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the Gombe Central Senatorial District election.

Declaring the result in Kumo, Akko Local Government Area of the State, the Returning Officer, Professor Mustapha A. Muhammad, said Goje polled 102,916 to defeat Aliyu Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who scored 37,870.

Also, Bibikir Muhammad of the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) scored 1,155 and Aliyu Musa Aliyu of the Labour Party got 637 votes.

Senator Goje, who chairs the Senate Committee on Marine Transport was re-elected to the Senate for a record fourth time. He was first elected into the red chamber in 2011, at the end of his two-term tenure as governor of the state.

Gov Ayade Loses To Jarigbe In C-River

In Cross River State, it is bad news for Governor Ben Ayade as he failed to clinch the Senate seat, losing to incumbent Senator representing Northern Senatorial District in the National Assembly, Jarigbe Agom Jarigbe of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Jarigbe garnered a total of 76,145 votes to defeat the Governor whose tally of votes stood at 56,595 as declared by INEC.

In declaring Senator Jarigbe as duly elected winner of the Senatorial election in the early hours of Monday, 27th February 2023, the INEC returning officer, Dr Emmanuel Emanghe commended stakeholders for their peaceful conduct during the polls.

Emanghe also praised all the security agents for giving the needed support which invariably led to a successful and credible election.