- Dogara, Kalu, Bamidele, others win
- INEC continues results collation today
Senate President Bukola Saraki yesterday lost his Kwara Central Senatorial seat to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ibrahim Yahaya Oloriegbe.
Oloriegbe, polled a total of 123,808 votes, to defeat his long-time political rival, Saraki, who contested on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and polled 68,994 votes.
In the general elections conducted on Saturday, Saraki lost in all the four local government areas that make up the Kwara Central Senatorial District, comprising of Asa, Ilorin West, Ilorin East and Ilorin South.
A breakdown of the results showed that Oloriegbe polled 15,932 votes in Asa, while Saraki scored 11, 252 votes. In Ilorin East, the APC candidate polled 30,014 with Saraki scoring 14,654.
In Ilorin South Local Government, Oloriegbe polled 26,331, while Saraki scored 13,013. In Ilorin West, APC polled 51,531 votes, while the PDP scored 30,075.
Saraki, 56, with the support of his father, became the governor of Kwara State in 2003, serving for two terms and ending his 8-year reign as governor in 2011. He served as the chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) during his second term.
His father, late Olusola Saraki, was a Second Republic politician, who became Senate Leader during late Shehu Shagari’s tenure between 1979 and 1983.
After serving as governor, the younger Saraki, who took after his father as the new leader of the Saraki political dynasty, won the Senate seat for Kwara Central in 2011 on the platform of PDP.
He joined the APC in 2014 and recontested for his seat and won. Saraki became Senate President on June 9, 2015 against the wishes of his then party, the APC.
He had faced a trial on an alleged false assets declaration for over two years at the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT), but he was discharged last year by the Supreme Court.
Saraki’s Senate Presidency has been turbulent as a number of clashes cropped up between the Senate and the Executive, which shaped the life of the 8th Assembly.
His sour relationship with Executive and the national leadership of his party got out of hand forcing him to leave the APC back to the PDP in August last year.
He contested the presidential ticket of the PDP last October but lost to the PDP candidate and former vice president Atiku Abubakar. He was later appointed as the Director General of the PDP Presidential Campaign Council.
APC’s Lola Ashiru won the Kwara South Senatorial District seat, while APC’s Sadiq Umar won the Kwara North Senatorial seat.
Similarly, Senate Minority Leader Biodun Olujimi lost her seat for Ekiti South to Dayo Adeyeye. Olujimi, who is of the PDP, scored 53,741 votes while Adeyeye scored 77,621 votes.
Another serving senator from Ekiti North, Duro Faseyi of PDP lost his seat to Olubunmi Adetunbi of APC, who scored 60,689 to the latter’s 49,209.
Senator Mao Ohuabunwa (PDP Abia North) also lost his seat to a former governor of the state, Orji Uzo Kalu of the APC. Kalu scored 30,580 votes to beat Ohuabunwa who polled 21,940 votes.
Also, APC’s Opeyemi Bamidele defeated PDP’s Obademi Adewale to emerge the senator-elect for Ekiti Central. The APC candidate scored 94,279 votes, while his opponent got 48,707 votes.
As at the time of filing this report, Senator Ahmad Babba Kaita (APC, Katsina North) retained his seat. APC’s Kabir Barkiya also won the Katsina Central Senatorial seat. See more stories on pages 3, 7, 8, 13, 14 & 15>>>
