- Party Thanks Omo-Agege, Others Over Victory
By Ken Afor
The Delta State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in an apparent convincing reaffirmation of its grassroots electoral strength, swept all House of Assembly rerun elections earlier ordered in the State by the Court of Appeal, sending jubilation across the State with many people chanting songs of excitement in major cities like Warri, Ughelli, Sapele, Asaba and Burutu.
The rerun elections which took place in Burutu and Ethiope West Local Government Areas saw the APC defeating the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) in state constituencies that were previously considered impregnable strongholds of the PDP. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) while declaring the APC candidates as winners in both constituencies said it was impressed with the peaceful and orderly nature of the election. The INEC declared Alapala Anthony Ebitonmo, as the winner of the House of Assembly rerun elections in Burutu State Constituency 1 on Saturday.
According to INEC, Ebitonmo emerged victorious after securing 7,728 votes, to defeat his rival, Asupa Forteta of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who secured 6,616 votes. Similarly, INEC while declaring Hon. Blessing Achoja of the APC winner of the Etiope West State Constituency rerun said the election was very peaceful. This development has elicited wild jubilation in many quarters across the State. Many APC leaders attribute the outcome of the rerun to visionary and strong campaigns put forward by the Party in the State under the leadership of former deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege as the APC’s governorship candidate in the 2023 general elections.
It would be recalled that Senator Omo-Agege who has been quite calm since the Supreme Court delivered its verdict affirming the election of Governor Sherrif Oborevwori , which shocked many is believed to have worked strategically with former governor, Chief James Ibori to deploy APC’s foot soldiers everywhere to prove the point that APC has established a solid fighting capacity to win against the PDP in Delta State.
Meanwhile, in a statement released by Barr. Valentine Onojeghuo, State Publicity Secretary of the Delta State APC, the party expressed gratitude for the leadership role of the former Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, who was the party’s gubernatorial candidate.
The statement read in part: “The party expresses its profound appreciation and gratitude to our indefatigable leader HE Sen Ovie Omo-Agege CFR, Sen Ede Dafinone, Sen. Joel Onowakpor Thomas, NDDC Chairman Chiedu Ebie for their moral and financial support to our victorious candidates and ensuring that the Party bravely defended the hard won mandates.
“APC faithfuls across the state pray for God’s guidance for our indefatigable representatives in the onerous task ahead. Now that the reruns polls are satisfactorily concluded, in line with the Electoral Law 2022, we urge the opponents to show sportsmanship by accepting the results with a handshake.”
In the same vein, the Senator representing Delta Central at the National Assembly under the platform of APC, Senator Ede Dafinone has applauded the two APC candidates who emerged victorious in the re-run elections. Also, the Senator representing Delta South Senatorial District under the APC platform at the National Assembly, Senator Joel-Thomas Onowakpo, congratulated Alapala for his victory.
