Nicholas Akobada has clinched the Peoples Democratic Party’s ticket to contest Lagos East senatorial district election in 2023.

According to Daniel Ochu-Baiye, chairman of the PDP electoral committee and returning officer for the senatorial primary election, Mr Akobada scored 74 votes to defeat his closest rival, Agnes Adenike-Shobajo, who polled 63 votes.

Announcing the result Tuesday morning at the PDP secretariat in Somolu, he disclosed that Obadiaru Adebayo, another contestant, scored 16 votes while Saidat Odofin-Fafore polled two votes.

There were some hitches and protests over the allegation of fake delegates’ list when ad hoc delegates from Ikorodu were voting with about 58 ad hoc delegates.

The development came after delegates from four out of the five local government areas that made up the senatorial distinct had voted. Delegates from Somolu, Kosofe, Epe and Ibeju-Lekki had voted before the disruption.

The issues resulted in several protests by delegates from Ikorodu, who insisted that the names of delegates on the list brought by the electoral committee were not authentic. After some furore, the electoral committee declared the election inconclusive, citing security risk, and left the venue, but later came back to announce the result and declared a winner.

Since Monday morning, the ad hoc delegates had waited for the exercise, but the electoral committee only showed up at 11:50 p.m. The accreditation and voting started simultaneously at 12:03 a.m. on Tuesday and ended at 1:40 a.m.

The election was held under heavy security presence monitored by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Akanbi Abidakun, who led the INEC team to observe the primary, disclosed that the election was orderly and the electoral committee followed due process.

(NAN)