Emerhor defeats Keyamo at APC primaries to Delta central senatorial district by-election
(Nigeria) Mr O’Tega Emerhor, has defeated a human rights lawyer, Mr Festus Keyamo, at the All Progressives
Congress, APC, primaries for the forthcoming by-election into the Delta Central
Senatorial Seat held on Wednesday.
Emerhor polled 1,674 votes to defeat Keyamo, who had 36
votes in spite of boycotting the exercise earlier.
Keyamo, who came into the election venue in Ughelli at 3.00
p.m., alleged that the voters registration held on Tuesday in the Delta hotel
in Sapele was marred by violence.
He said that his opponent Mr O’Tega Emerhor, hired thugs to
steal election materials and disappeared.
Keyamo said that there was no registration of voters in
Sapele, Ughelli South, Ughelli North and Ethiope-West.
``The thugs of my opponent came to hijack materials and went
to unknown destination. It is concocted and designed to rig the process. I will
not allow this brand of politics in my state. I am going to fight for other
people who want to join the party. We must not encourage this type of violence
and rigging.
``I am carrying my protest to the national body of APC that
this type of politics must not continue in Delta. The election is fraud, I am not participating in this kind of election
process and as far as I am concern APC has no candidate in Delta,’’ Keyamo
said.
Reacting, Sen. Osita Izunaso, the National Organising
Secretary of APC said that in line with the 2010 Electoral Act as amended and
the APC's constitution, the primaries would hold.
``If there are three, four or five aspirants and all of them
withdrew, and it remains just one, we must still conduct the primaries and
declare that person the winner.
``If you don’t do that you negate the whole essence of the
exercise,’’ he said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that supporters of
Keyamo mounted around the Ughelli Kingdom Hall, venue of the exercise chanting
anti-party slogan with placards in their hands.
Some of the supporters carried placards with the
inscriptions, ``Keyamo is our candidate’’, ``we no dey vote’’.
It took the effort of the security operatives to disperse
the thick cloud with gun shots.
This was contrary to what happened on Tuesday at the same
venue when the Democratic Peoples’ Party held its primaries won by Mr Ede
Dafinone.
The outcome indicates that Emerhor, Ede Dafinone of DPP and
Mr Emannuel Aguariavwodo of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP will slug it out at
the forthcoming bye-election into the Delta Central Senatorial seat in October.
The senatorial seat was vacated by late Pius Ewherido, who
died on June 30.
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