Prof Ihonvbere Won APC Reps Primaries – Spokesman

The Chief Press Secretary to the House Leader, Samson Akhanieme, has said that the results of the just-concluded direct primaries for the House of Representatives across various council wards in Owan East/Owan West Federal Constituency of Edo State proved that Prof. Julius Ihonbvere was actually nominated to fly the flag of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 National Assembly elections.

Prof. Ihonbvere is currently the Leader of the House of Representatives and the current Member representing Owan East/Owan West Federal Constituency of Edo State.

There were reports in some sections of the media Saturday night that the House Leader lost his nomination bid.

But Akhanieme issued a statement describing the reports as misleading.

“The just concluded APC House of Representatives primary for Owan Federal Constituency, Edo State, held this Saturday, 16 May, has been won by the Leader, House of Representatives and current Member representing the Federal Constituency, Prof. Julius Omozuanvbo Ihonvbere”, Akhanieme said.

He went on to give details of the scores recorded for each of the three aspirants who participated in the primaries, adding that two other aspirants had earlier stepped down in favour of Prof. Ihonvbere.

According to Akhanieme, “The overall votes cast in the electoral contest showed that Prof Ihonvbere polled 4,729 votes, while his closest rival, Hon. Andrew Ijegbai, recorded a total of 2,912 votes, with Hon. Abdul Oroh coming a distant third after polling just 29 votes.

“Recall that Hon. Foly Ogedengbe and Barr. Friday Ojealaro had earlier stepped down from the race in solidarity with Prof Ihonvbere”.

Akhanieme, who presented result sheets and video clips from various wards of Owan East and Owan West local government areas, said Prof. Ihonvbere thanked the electorate and APC stakeholders, while extending an olive branch to his fellow contenders.

“In a post-election interview, Prof Ihonvbere solicited the continued support of all party members, adding that he is fully committed to working together with the other former aspirants to deliver total victory for the APC in the 2027 general elections”, he added.