Samuel Anyanwu, candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), obtained the most votes in the electoral unit of Rochas Okorochaformer governor of the state and leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Okorocha, who cast his vote at the electoral unit on Saturday, governed the state between 2011 and 2019 under the platform of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). He defected to the APC during his second term (2013).
The former governor represented Imo West District in the Nigerian Senate under the APC platform between 2019 and 2023.
Guber result in the electoral unit
At Mr. Okorocha’s Polling Unit 002, Ekenta Market Square, Ogboko Registration Center II, Mr. Anwanyu, the PDP candidate, polled 50 votes.
The unit is located within Ogboko, a community in Ideato South Local Government Area of the state, Newslodge reports.
The state governor and APC candidate in the election, Hope Uzodinma, polled 40 votes, while his Labor Party counterpart, Athan Achonu, polled only 8 votes.
Of the 1,822 registered voters in the unit, only 102 votes were cast and one vote was voided.
A total of 18 candidates, including Uzodinma, are aspiring to be Imo governor.
Enemies of old, friends recently reunited?
Messrs Uzodinma and Okorocha had long been political enemies despite being members of the ruling APC.
Uzodinma was declared governor of Imo State in January 2020 by the Supreme Court, which also annulled the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP.
In 2021, Uzodinma obtained a court order to seal a property belonging to Mr. Okorocha.
READ ALSO: Results from Kogi, Imo and Bayelsa electoral units fill IRev portal with speed
Okorocha attempted to open one of the properties but was arrested by security agents on the orders of Mr Uzodinma.
He was granted bail that same day.
Before that, Okorocha had a clash with Uzodinma in 2019 when he (Okorocha) insisted that his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, should be the APC candidate for governor of the state at that time.
Although he facilitated a parallel primary in which his son-in-law emerged as the candidate, the APC leadership later recognized Mr. Uzodinma as the party’s candidate.
Messrs. Uzodinma and Okorocha remained political enemies ever since.
But in August, President Bola Tinubu and APC National Chairman Abdullahi Ganduje reportedly reconciled the two ahead of Saturday’s elections.
