Former member representing Ughelli/Udu Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Hon. Solomon Awhinawhi has won the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) rerun primary election for House of Representatives.
Awhinawhi polled 80 of the 88 valid votes to defeat his closest rival, Hon. Talibe Tebite in absentia who scored 3 votes. In the previous election, held on the 22nd of May, 2022, Awhinawhi came second after being defeated by Talibe Tabite who won the election by 4 votes.
At the first election which was keenly contested by the aspirants, Talibe Tebite polled 34 votes, Solomons Awhinawhi 30 votes, Samuel Marierie 26 votes, Eunice Oko 8 votes and Julius Akpovoka 0 votes.
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Reason for the rerun election could not be ascertained from an authoritative source as at press time, as the returning officer for the election, Mr Collins Okafor, referred journalists to higher authorities of the party.
According to Okafor, “we were constituted by our national body to conduct the election and that is what we have done. I am not in the position to disclose to you the reason for the rerun. You can get that from the national body.”
Speaking after he had been declared winner, Solomon Awhinawhi thanked the delegates and his fellow aspirants who contested the election with him. He specifically thanked Mr Samuel Marierie and Eunice Oko who stepped down for him, describing their actions as one targeted at uniting the party for victory in the general elections.
Hon. Talibe Tebite who won the first election and who was absent at the rerun election could not be reached for comments. However, a close associate of Tebite who craved anonymity told The Trumpet that the event could only be described as a Nollywood movie.
“There is no election in the first place because what they did is not known to law and the Constitution of the PDP.”
