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Edo APC Primaries: Ex-Rep Ogbeide-Ihama Defeats Incumbent Senator Imasuen in Major Upset; Ize-Iyamu Rejects Results, Leading to Parallel Declarations
Former Rep Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama delivered a stunning blow to the Edo APC establishment by toppling Senator Neda Imasuen.
The All Progressives Congress primary for the Edo South Senatorial District produced the biggest shock of the state's nomination season. Former House of Representatives member Omoregie Ogbeide-Ihama swept aside the incumbent, Senator Neda Imasuen, in a landslide that few saw coming. Official results gave Ogbeide-Ihama 27,154 votes to Imasuen's 13,580, a margin so wide it left no room for recount arguments. Former governorship candidate Osagie Ize-Iyamu trailed in third place with 6,785 votes — but his reaction to the outcome ensured the drama was only beginning.
Within hours of the results being announced, Ize-Iyamu publicly rejected the figures and was declared the winner at a parallel collation centre in Benin City. The split-screen moment — one aspirant accepting defeat, another declaring victory from a different podium — crystallised the chaos that has come to define the Edo APC's primary season. Senator Imasuen, for his part, did not mince words. He described the entire exercise as "a sham" and pointedly blamed external factors for the result. But he also ruled out defecting, a signal that the party's internal wounds may fester rather than heal.
Ogbeide-Ihama's victory is significant beyond the numbers. A former PDP stalwart who only recently crossed over to the APC, his ability to dismantle an incumbent in his first outing under the new banner suggests that the party's grassroots are more fluid than the establishment believed. For the APC leadership, the result is a double-edged sword: a fresh, energetic candidate with a proven electoral base, but also a reminder that no incumbent is safe — and that the primary process, when contested fiercely, can leave deep scars. With 2027 approaching, those scars may prove costly.
Stay tuned to Unuevbo TV for more on the Edo APC primaries, the fallout from the senatorial contests, and the political battles shaping the road to 2027.
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