Samuel Anyanwu, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), scored the highest votes in the polling unit of Rochas Okorocha, a former governor of the state and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr Okorocha, who cast his vote in the polling unit earlier 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 in office (2013).
The former governor represented Imo West District in the Nigerian Senate under the APC platform between 2019 and 2023.
Guber result at the polling unit
At Mr Okorocha’s Polling Unit 002, Ekenta Market Square, Ogboko Registration Centre II, Mr Anwanyu, the PDP candidate, scored 50 votes.
The unit is within Ogboko, a community in Ideato South Local Government Area of the state, PREMIUM TIMES reports.
The state governor and the APC candidate in the election, Hope Uzodinma, polled 40 votes while his Labour Party counterpart, Athan Achonu, garnered only 8 votes.
Of the 1,822 registered voters at the unit, only 102 votes were cast while one vote was voided.
A total of 18 candidates including Mr Uzodinma seek to be Imo governor.
Old-time enemies, newly reunited friends?
Messrs Uzodinma and Okorocha had been political enemies for a long time despite being members of the ruling APC.
Mr Uzodinma was declared governor of Imo State in January 2020 by the Supreme Court which also nullified the election of Emeka Ihedioha of the PDP.
In 2021, Mr Uzodinma secured a court injunction to seal a property belonging to Mr Okorocha.
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Mr Okorocha attempted to unseal one of the properties but he was arrested by security operatives on the orders of Mr Uzodinma.
He was granted bail the same day.
Before then, Mr Okorocha had a face-off with Mr Uzodinma in 2019 when he (Okorocha) insisted that his son-in-law, Uche Nwosu, must be the APC governorship candidate in the state at the time.
Although he facilitated a parallel primary where his son-in-law emerged as a candidate, the leadership of the APC later recognised Mr Uzodinma as the party’s candidate.
Messrs Uzodinma and Okorocha remained political enemies since then.
But in August, President Bola Tinubu and the National Chairperson of the APC, Abdullahi Ganduje, reportedly reconciled the duo ahead of Saturday’s poll.
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