Breaking: How Wike Defeated Awara in Rivers Governorship Election
Breaking: How Wike Defeated Awara in Rivers Governorship Election
Governor Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was declared winner of the prolonged Rivers State governorship election after securing a commanding lead over Biokpomabo Awara of the African Action Congress (AAC).
Announcing the final result in Port Harcourt, the State Collation Officer, Professor Teddy Adias, described the conclusion of the exercise as the end of an electoral process that began on March 9, 2019.
“Today marks the end of an era that commenced on March 9, 2019, when Rivers people were mobilised en masse to elect their governor,” Adias said before declaring Wike governor-elect.
Wike polled 886,264 votes, while Awara, whose candidacy received the backing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, secured 173,859 votes. A total of 1,102,823 valid votes were recorded.
The result gave Wike a winning margin of 712,405 votes over his closest challenger.
There had been expectations that INEC would announce supplementary elections in some parts of the state after results from several local government areas were affected by violence and other disruptions.
However, as collation progressed, it became clear that the number of registered voters in areas where elections had been cancelled was insufficient to overturn Wike’s lead.
According to the State Collation Officer, 249,324 registered voters were affected by cancellations, including those in Gokana and Abua/Odual local government areas.
Since Wike’s 712,405-vote lead was far greater than the total number of registered voters in the affected areas, INEC determined that supplementary elections could not change the final outcome.
The declaration effectively brought to an end weeks of uncertainty surrounding the Rivers governorship election, which had been disrupted by violence and disagreements over the collation process.
Former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and PDP agent Austin Okpara described Wike’s victory as a reflection of the wishes of Rivers voters.
He called on opposition parties to accept the result and work with the governor to move the state forward, while urging political actors to end the violence that had characterised elections in Rivers State.
AAC State Agent Nenye Kocha, however, said the party would study the results before deciding its next course of action.
“We will study the report and come up with a position. The decision of what to do next can’t be mine to determine alone. The party will sit and take a position,” he said.
An APC chieftain who spoke to Vanguard offered a different explanation for Wike’s overwhelming victory, arguing that internal problems within the APC contributed significantly to the outcome.
The party had been prevented from fielding candidates in the Rivers elections following litigation arising from its internal primary disputes.
With no APC governorship candidate on the ballot, then Minister of Transportation Rotimi Amaechi and his supporters backed Awara of the AAC as an alternative challenger to Wike.
The APC chieftain argued that the arrangement came too late to provide an effective challenge to the incumbent governor and criticised Amaechi’s handling of the party’s political strategy.
According to him, Wike’s victory was not solely the result of his popularity but was also helped by the divisions and leadership crisis within the APC.
He maintained that the contest could have been significantly different if the APC had been allowed to participate with its own established candidate and party structure.
Following Wike’s declaration, celebrations broke out in parts of Port Harcourt as supporters took to the streets to mark the PDP’s victory.
Motorists and residents also expressed relief that the lengthy electoral dispute had finally reached a conclusion, with expectations that the political tension and security concerns that had gripped Port Harcourt and other parts of Rivers State would begin to ease.
Wike’s victory ultimately rested on an overwhelming numerical advantage: his margin of more than 712,000 votes was almost three times the number of registered voters in all the areas where elections had been cancelled, making a supplementary governorship election incapable of changing the result.
