Kelechi Anosike has won the governorship ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Abia State as the party concluded its primary election on Sunday.
Anosike scored 16,543 votes to defeat the former Commissioner for Information in Abia State, John Okiyi Kalu, who scored 3,145 votes.
The former Deputy Chief of Staff to former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Olugu Kalu Ugba, scored 961 votes.
The election victory was announced by the Chairman of the PDP in Abia State, Abraham Amah, at the PDP office in Umuahia, with the approval of the PDP electoral panel for Abia State, led by Chris Nnadi.
Amah said the primary, which was monitored by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Nigerian Police Force, and other security agencies, was conducted in all the 184 electoral wards in the state.
The Abia PDP chairman disclosed that some people allegedly refused to turn in results from five wards but explained that the results already gathered from 179 wards overrode those withheld in the five wards.
Speaking to journalists at the PDP office, the winner of the PDP governorship ticket, Kelechi Anosike, said that Abia State is rich but poorly managed.
The candidate promised to make the state an agricultural and industrial hub and urged PDP members to unite for the task of taking over the Abia State Government House in 2027.