A former Chief of Staff to Abia State Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Okey Ahaiwe has been elected as governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
He polled 469 votes to defeat his closest rivals, the Deputy Governor, Rt. Hon. Ude Oko Chukwu and Mayor Lucky Igbokwe who scored 12 votes each.
Others who participated in the process were a former chairman of the party, Senator Emma Nwaka, who had no vote, and a former House of Assembly member, Sampson Orji, who polled 11 votes.
Five hundred and sixteen votes were cast, 12 of which were invalid during the special congress, which became necessary following the death of the governorship candidate, Prof. Eleazar Uchenna Ikonne last week.
Some of the aspirants including a former Commissioner for Works, Bob Ogu, a businessman, Eric Opia and a female candidate had earlier stepped down for Ahaiwe, who hails from the same local government area as the late Ikonne.
The chairman of the Abia State PDP primary, Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State declared the winner at the special congress.
He assured the candidate that the party would support him to win the governorship election in the state.
Earlier, the state chairman, Alwell Asiforo Okere said the special convention became necessary following the death of the former governorship candidate of the party, Ikonne.
“We lost our governorship candidate Ikonne 10 days ago. It is for that reason that we are here today because the Electoral Act, particularly Section 33 has compelled us to elect another candidate within 14 days.
“We are very confident that the team led by Obaseki will do a good job because the party knows the kind of man he is before sending him.
“We know all the candidates. We urge the winner to be magnanimous and embrace others.
“We must do everything to rescue Nigeria from corruption and poverty by starting from Abia State”, he said.
In his acceptance speech, Ahaiwe thanked the party delegates for electing him to fly the party colour in the forthcoming election.
He said he would bring his experience from the private and public sectors to move the state forward.
The special convention was monitored by a team from the Independent National Electoral Commission, led by a National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Barrister Festus Okoye.
