Rt. Hon. Benjamin Uwajumogu in pole position for Okigwe senatorial zone seat as opinion poll tilt to his favour

The senatorial ambition of the Speaker, Imo state House of Assembly and the Okigwe zone candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the forthcoming general elections, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Uwajumogu, seems to have continued to sustain unassailable momentum.

Barring any last minute upset, the prospective senator is set to cruise home with victory, following the recent conduct of an opinion poll by a private consortium with a view to assessing the level of strength or weakness of the candidates, owing to the levels they have taken with their campaigns so far.

The firm which undertook the herculean task of conducting the poll, Diamond Communications Ltd, with its head office located in Abuja, is however, reputed for its high empirical, independent and objective analysis of the outcome of some of the electoral contests in the past, which included the election that saw the emergence of the former governor of the state, Chief Ikedi Ohakim, the incumbent governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, as well as the current representative of the zone in the senate, Senator Matthew Nwagwu.

In the result which was released by the Communication giant last week, having being engaged in the painstaking activity of conducting the exercise for weeks, strong opinions of about 25,000 eligible voters were sought after, in the six local government areas which form the integral part of the zone.

According to the outcome of the sampled opinions which cut across political party lines, a large chunk of the voting population were strong and overwhelming in rooting for the emergence of the APC candidate in the election and the current Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Benjamin Uwajumogu, who garnered a staggering sum total of 13,750 votes, representing 55% of the total number of votes cast.

Trailing the Speaker, is the candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Athan Achonu, who secured 6,250 of the votes, which represents 25% to come second in the poll, while a surprising upset was recorded by Mrs Rita Ibemere, the flag bearer of the Accord party in the area, who came a distant third by polling 3,250, representing 13% of the total votes to upstage the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Mazi Clement Owunna, who came fourth with the total number of 1,750 votes, which represents 7% in the poll.

According to political pundits who barred their minds on the outcome of the poll in the area, the reported wide choice of the Speaker of the state Assembly by the people of the area was however, not surprising, having received tremendous support and solidarity from notable individuals, as well as the masses who cut across all the political party divides existing in the area.

They added that the general support being given to the Speaker personally, by the people of the zone was occasioned by the visible number of projects and reforms he attracted to the zone in his capacity as the Speaker of the state Assembly, maintaining that political leaders in the zone decided to collectively back his candidature in appreciation of his laudable achievements within four years, while anticipating a greater push from the Speaker to return Okigwe zone back to the path of sustainable development.