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By Dada AYOKHAI
BENIN CITY – Hon. Mohammed Kabiru Ajana, Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, APC, National Assembly Primary Committee, has released the voting figures showing Hon. Ogbeide-Ihama leading the race to fly the APC flag in the National Assembly elections scheduled for January 2027.
Ajana announced the figures after the collation of results from the 77 wards across the seven local governments in the senatorial district. He made the announcement at Ukopota Hall in Benin, after returning officers from each LGA presented the scores of all candidates.
However, he stopped short of declaring Ogbeide-Ihama the winner.
Three aspirants contested the primary: incumbent Senator Neda Imasuen, representing Edo South; Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu; and Hon. Ogbeide-Ihama.
The breakdown of the results showed that Ogbeide-Ihama won in all the seven local governments.
In the Oredo local government, Ogbeide-Ihama scored 3,950 votes, Neda Imasuen, 1,974 votes and Pastor Osagie Ize-Iyamu got 986 votes.
In Egor Ihama polled 4,226 votes, Neda Imasuen 2, 114 votes while Ize-Iyamu scored 1,056 votes.
The results from Orhionmwon’s local government showed that Ogbeide-Ihama clinched 3,058 votes, Imasuen polled 1,529 votes and Ize-Iyamu scored 765 votes.
In Ovia South-West Local Government, Ogbeide- Ihama got 4,263 votes, Imasuen 2,131 votes while Ize-Iyamu scored 1,060 votes.
The returning committee officer from Ikpoba Okha local government, Ogbeide-Ihama garnered 5,517 votes, Neda Imasuen 2, 759 votes and Ize-Iyamu 1,378 votes.
Similarly, in Uhunmwonde local government Ogbeide-Ihama scored 2,626 votes, Neda Imasuen 1,314 votes and Ize-Iyamu, 657 votes.
In Ovia North-East Local Government Ihama polled a total of 3, 514 votes, Neda Imasuen 1,759 votes while Ize-Iyamu got 878 votes.
Hon Ogbeide-Ihama the former member of the National Assembly that represented Oredo Federal Constituency from 2015 to 2023 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC during the 2024 governorship election in Edo State.
He is reported to have the backing of the state governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo and Nyesom Wike, the former governor of Rivers state and the current minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja.
In a related development, another contestant, Pastor Ize Iyamu was in another collation centre in Benin was declared the winner of APC senatorial primary thereby bring in controversy in the excise,
