The Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State, Umo Eno, has been declared winner of the March 18 election.
In the run up to the vote, the candidate had promised to make Akwa Ibomites relax by teaming up with bars and lounges to declare happy hours on weekends with free alcohol.
Eno was declared the winner on Sunday in Uyo, the state capital, by Emmanuel Adigio, a Professor and Returning Officer for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
He won in 29 of the 31 local government areas in the state with a total of 354,348 votes to defeat his top challenger, Bassey Albert of the Young Progressives Party (YPP), who won in two local governments areas, scoring 136,262 votes.
The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Akanimo Udofia, came third with 129,602 votes.
The candidates of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) and Labour Party scored 12,509 and 4,746 votes respectively.
The total number of registered voters in the state was given as 2,357,418 out of which 657,959 representing about a quarter, were accredited for the exercise.
While the total valid votes cast were 656,422 out of which 12,342 were rejected votes while 644,080 were valid votes.
Eno is the anointed candidate of the incumbent governor, Udom Emmanuel, whose two terms of eight years will end on May 29, 2023.