The Labour Party’s electoral hopes hinge on Abia and Enugu.

There are high hopes in the camp of the Labour Party (LP), the pro-worker organization and the new political party adored by Nigerian youths, despite the fact that the ‘Obidient’ family, as they are popularly known, has not won a single state three days after the March 18 governorship elections.

Many Nigerians had anticipated that the LP would produce a number of governors after winning 11 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in the presidential election on February 25. The LP won 11 states and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja in the presidential election.

Nonetheless, with the results of 24 of the 28 governorship elections already announced and winners declared, the LP’s hopes to produce a governor or governors rest precariously on Enugu and Abia, two of the four remaining states where the Independent National Electoral Commission has yet to declare winners (INEC).

APC Wins 15 States, PDP Wins 8 States, and NNPP Wins Kano

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has won in 15 states, including seven re-elected governors: Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq (Kwara), Inuwa Yahaya (Gombe), Mai Mala Muni (Yobe), Abdullahi Sule (Nasarawa), and Babagana Zulum (Nasarawa) (Borno).

Additionally, the party secured victories for eight new candidates: Umar Namadi (Jigawa), Ahmed Aliyu (Sokoto), Dikko Radda (Katsina), Uba Sani (Kaduna), Bassey Out (Cross River), Mohammed Bago (Niger), Hyacinth Alia (Benue), and Francis Nwifuru (Ebonyi).

In contrast, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won eight elections, including the reelection of two governors: Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Bala Mohammed (Bauchi).

Six first-term governors were also elected on the opposition party’s platform. They are Sheriff Oborevwori, Umo Eno (Akwa Ibom), Siminialayi Fubara (Rivers), Kefas Agbu (Taraba), and Caleb Mutfwang (Plateau) (Delta). In a historic victory, Dauda Lawal of the PDP deposed Zamfara State Governor and APC power broker Bello Matawalle. Abba Kabir of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) similarly deposed the APC in Kano.

Kebbi, Adamawa Elections Inconclusive

The electoral body declared the elections in Kebbi and Adamawa to be inconclusive and suspended the tabulation of results for the governorship elections in Abia and Enugu.

In Adamawa, the inconclusive election results revealed that the contest is between Senator Aishatu Dahiru, popularly known as Binani of the APC and Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of the PDP, who polled a total of 421,524, effectively eliminating the LP.

Prof. Muhammadu Mele of the University of Maiduguri, state collation officer for INEC, declared the election inconclusive due to the margin of votes.

He stated, “There were no elections held in 47 wards, affecting 69 polling places. So, this gives us a margin of 31,249. The total number of PVCs collected in areas where there were no elections was 37,016.”

Mele stated that where the margin between two candidates is less than the total number of collected PVCs in areas where elections were not held, the election is declared inconclusive “based on these findings and analysis as stated in the electoral laws.”

In Kebbi, North-West Nigeria, where Saturday’s election was also declared inconclusive, the contest is between the PDP and the APC, the two dominant parties.

Prof. Yusuf Sa’idu, the Returning Officer of INEC, declared the election inconclusive due to violations of electoral laws that led to the cancellation of results in polling units within 20 of the 21 LGAs.

Before the election was declared inconclusive, the APC was ahead in the polls with 388,258 votes to the PDP’s 342,980 votes, thereby excluding the LP.

The election official Is expected to take a decision on both Adamawa and Kebbi.

Collation Of Results Suspended The South-East Nigerian states of Abia and Enugu are Obi’s strongholds. Obi is a former governor of Anambra State, also in the South-East geopolitical zone. Obi received a staggering 327,095 votes in Abia for the presidential election three weeks ago, far outpacing the APC candidate Bola Tinubu’s 8,914 votes and the PDP candidate Atiku Abubakar’s 22,675 votes. Obi received 428,640 votes in Enugu, far outpacing the APC with 4,772 votes and the PDP with 15,740 votes.

In the March 18 governorship elections in Enugu and Abia states, many Nigerians had anticipated a similar voting pattern and uncontested victories. However, this has not been the case.

INEC spokesman Festus Okoye announced the suspension of the process in Abia and Enugu, two states in the South-East with a strong Labour Party presence, on Monday, while the collation of results was still in progress.

Okoye stated, “The Commission met today, Monday, March 20, 2023, to review the conduct of the nationwide Governorship and State Assembly elections held on Saturday, March 18, 2023.” As a result of the meeting, the Commission decided to halt the ongoing tabulation of the Governorship election results in certain regions of Abia and Enugu States.

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Recall that our office in the Obingwa Local Government Area was invaded by thugs on Sunday, March 19, 2023, and that our officials were held hostage regarding the collation of results from the Local Government Area. Similarly, reports from Enugu State call for a review of the Governorship election results from the two outstanding Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Nsukka and Nkanu East. As a result, the Commission suspends the collation of results in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State and the two remaining Local Government Areas of Enugu State. A review will be undertaken immediately before the process is concluded.”

Between Otti And Edeoga

The Labour Party was optimistic that its candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, would win the Lagos governorship election in light of its success at the presidential level, but incumbent and APC candidate Governor Babafemi Sanwo-Olu prevailed. The LP also lost other states where it won the presidential election and the party’s attention has since shifted to Abia and Enugu.

Prior to the suspension of collation, Alex Otti of the Labour Party had already won 10 of the 17 local government areas in the state, ahead of the APC’s Ikechi Emenike, the PDP’s Okey Ahiwe, and the Young Peoples Party’s (YPP) Enyinnaya Nwafor, who are all in the race to succeed the incumbent governor and PDP G5 member, Okezie Ikpeazu, whose two terms of eight years end

Before the suspension of the collation by INEC in Enugu, where there are also 17 local government areas, LP’s Chijioke Edeoga and PDP’s Mbah Ndubuisi are far ahead of the other candidates, such as Frank Nweke (Jnr) of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Enugu State, and APC’s Uche Nnaji, who are all in the race to succeed the incumbent governor and PDP G5 member, If

According to the information gathered, the review panel is currently in Abuja and will hopefully return to Abia and Enugu to complete their work.

LP Fumes

In a statement, the National Chairman of the LP, Julius Abure, sounded the alarm, stating that there is a plot to overturn the results of the governorship elections in Abia and Enugu, but that the party will resist because “enough is enough.”

“This is one theft too many,” lamented Abure. “We have endured what no other political party in the country has endured in recent weeks because we believe in due process, but it appears that this is taken for granted. But we may not have too much patience.”

“Let me state for the first time that we will oppose every effort by the PDP in the states of Abia and Enugu to overturn our mandate.

“If nothing is done about this, we will have no choice but to mobilize OBIdients across the country to take over the streets,” he stated.

Obi tells INEC to speed up action

Obi criticized the “continued delay” in the release of the governorship results for the states of Abia and Enugu in a statement and urged INEC to “accelerate action.”

“Having carefully observed the events surrounding the Gubernatorial Elections in Abia and Enugu States, I must insist that the Gubernatorial Election Results of Abia and Enugu States be released without delay.

“I am aware that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has indicated that it is reviewing the Collation of Results in these two States. Obi stated, “However, I would like to urge them to expedite action on this, as their continued delay calls into question INEC’s intent and the election’s credibility.”

Obi expressed disappointment that the Commission has yet to resolve whatever issues are preventing the release of the election results, hours after the elections were held.

“The Records of the Elections from Polling Units should not be difficult to calculate if the Electoral Officials are committed to the exercise’s integrity in accordance with the prescribed Guidelines,” he stated.

LP’s Advances Into NASS

Already, the Labour Party is making gradual inroads into mainstream politics, having won legislative seats for the first time after more than two decades of existence. The party won over seven Senate seats and over thirty-four House of Representatives seats in the National Assembly (NASS) elections held on February 25.

The LP, formerly known as the Party for Social Democracy (PSD), which was previously relatively obscure in the political arena, gained unprecedented popularity with the Peter Obi phenomenon. Undoubtedly, the success of LP in the recently concluded elections for the red and green chambers can be attributed to the notoriety and acceptance of the party’s presidential candidate among an overwhelming youth majority known as “Obidients.”

Obi, 61, lost the presidential election despite winning the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and eleven states, including Lagos, Enugu, Abia, and other former strongholds of the two previously dominant parties, with a total of 6,101,533 votes. Tinubu was subsequently declared the winner of the election by INEC, having received 8,794,726 more votes than Obi and Atiku, who received 6,984,500 votes.

Obi has gone to court to contest the results of the presidential election on the grounds that he won, citing the failure of the electoral umpire to electronically transmit results, widespread rigging, and reports of violence and disruption at many polling units during the election.

Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State was the last and only governor produced by the LP in the last twenty years. He was in office from February 2009 to February 2017.

Will the Labour Party field a candidate for governor in the elections of 2023? In the coming hours or days, we will know the answer.

(TNT)