Official Website of Governor Chimaroke Nnamani

Former Enugu State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Sullivan Chime, has been nominated as the Enugu State flag-bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2007 general elections.

In the governorship primaries of the party held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, Ogui Road, Enugu, Mr. Chime polled a total of 4,707 votes to defeat twelve other governorship aspirants of the party in the state.

The Chairman of the Electoral Panel and Chief Returning Officer of the PDP Gubernatorial Primaries for Enugu State, Alhaji Shehu Sambo, who announced the result shortly after the counting of votes, declared that Mr. Sullivan Chime had been duly elected, having polled more than 50% of the total votes cast as stipulated by the party’s guidelines.

According to Alhaji Sambo, Chief Okechukwu Itanyi, who is also the Deputy Governor of the state, scored a total of 927 votes to post a distant second, while Dr. Osita Ogbu, former economic adviser to the President, polled 127 votes to come third.

He announced further that the other governorship contenders shared more than 300 votes cast in the election as follows: John Nwokeabia (99 votes), Prince Emeka Mamah (95 votes), Senator Ben Collins Ndu (51 votes), Ken Amuche (37 votes), Rtd. Group Captain Joe Orji (20 votes), Ken Anayo Onwuegbu (16 votes), Prince Ude Maduka (4 votes), Chief Okey Ezea (4 votes), Tony Onyia (2 votes), and Emeka Eze (2 votes), while a total of 50 votes were voided by the panel.

The Chairman of the electoral panel described the election as the most peaceful, orderly and successful governorship primaries, adding that he was in touch with the situation in other states.

In his post election speech, Mr. Sullivan Chime thanked the party members for their immense support and the opportunity given to him to fly the banner of the party in the 2007 elections, assuring them that he would not fail the party.

Mr.Chime described his victory as that of the PDP collectively and implored his fellow contestants to join hands with him to ensure the success of the party in the general elections.

Earlier, the Chairman of the electoral panel had taken time to also explain the guidelines and modalities for the exercise to the satisfaction of the aspirants and their polling agents.

About 6,728 delegates of the party drawn from the 17 local government areas of the state had arrived the open arena of the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium, venue of the primaries, from as early as 7 am in buses.

The primaries were held amid tight security around the stadium complex. All the roads leading to the stadium were barricaded to vehicular traffic with anti-riot policemen strategically positioned to ward off potential trouble makers. Delegates disembarked from the buses some 100 meters away, from where they walked the short distance to the main gate of the stadium in a carnival-like procession for initial screening and accreditation.

The situation inside was however relaxed and warm, with delegates jovially exchanging banters and chanting the slogans of their preferred candidates while the exercise lasted.

At exactly 3.20 pm the delegates, who were seated on the open stand of the stadium in alphabetical order according to the names of their different local governments areas, began to queue up in an orderly manner for final accreditation by the panel members, after which they marched in a line to cast votes for the candidates of their choices into the ballot boxes.

Voting continued late into the evening inside the stadium, which was illuminated by floodlight, until around 7:13 pm when delegates from Uzo Uwani Local Government Area completed the exercise. This was followed by sorting and counting of the entire votes cast under the vigilance of the electoral panel members, the agents of the candidates, journalists and some members of the party who remained behind for the results which were announced at 11.03 pm.

Among the dignitaries who participated in the primaries which were generally characterized by openness and transparency were the State Leader of the party, Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, members of the Enugu State Working Committee of the PDP led by the Chairman, Chief Onyioha Nwanjoku, members of the electoral panel inaugurated by the national headquarters of the party, State Chairman and top officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the State Director of the State Security Service (SSS), the State Commissioner of Police, and other election observers from a range of governmental and non-governmental agencies.