By Rita Enemuru, Reporting
EVANGELIST Michael Diden, Chief Ighoyota Amori and Ned Nwoko were, on Monday, declared winners of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) primaries for Delta South, Central and North senatorial districts.
Diden was the immediate past Chairman of the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC).
In Delta South, Evang. Diden polled 176 to defeat Daniel Reyenieju, Othihiwa Ayodele,
Kent Omatsone who scored 49, 46 and 2 out of 273 delegates from the eight local government areas who voted, respectively.
Reyenieju was a former member of the House of Representatives, and Omatsone, a former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly.
Amori, court-ousted Senator in 2015, who polled 142, defeated his closest rival, Chief John Nani, a former commissioner in Delta State who scored 123, to emerge candidate of the party for Delta Central.
Amori
PDP Delta North Senatorial District primary, which went peacefully like others, saw popular billionaire, Ned Nwoko, who was a former House Representatives member, grabbing the ticket.
Nwoko polled 242 votes to defeat his only rival, Paul Osaji, who scored 67.
The three primaries were held at Warri Township Stadium, Sapele Township Stadium and Stephen Keshi Stadium, Asaba, respectively under very tight security, with no record of violence.
Meanwhile, a mild drama played out at the Warri Township Stadium venue of the PDP primary for Delta Senatorial District, the Returning Officer and Commissioner for Information, Mr. Charles Aniagwu, as well as journalists from the state, were initially barred from gaining access to the stadium by some overzealous security men until reason prevailed through Governor Ifeanyi Okowa.
The actual voting started at 1:05p.m and ended 1:45p.m, and no sooner the sorting started than rain began, while the returning officers had to shift to one of the canopies to complete their task.
But before the counting got halfway, some supporters of Diden, popularly known as Ejele, went into frenzy, with different acrobatic and frenetic displays in the rain to celebrate his triumph.
Ejele supporters
Meanwhile, responding to his victory at the primary, Diden said that the overwhelming votes was a demonstration of the confidence the electorate reposed on him.
“It is a very good victory, the electorates assured me that they want me to represent them at the Senate.
“You could see that the election was peaceful and the votes overwhelming.
Warri Township
“The electorate gave me a nickname, “the peoples’s messenger” and I assured them that I will deliver the messages.
“I have contested an election before and lost. I congratulated the winner, so today I also congratulate the losers, today is not their turn,” he said.
The Senate aspirant said that he would not be carried away by the victory, describing it as just a friendly football match.
“Today is just like a friendly match; the general election is going to be the knock-out match. Anybody that comes from other parties in Delta South to contest for the senatorial seat will be knocked out,” he boasted.
The former DESOPADEC chairman said that the electorate had assured him of their total support, saying that “any day, and anytime, the electorate are for me.”
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