2019 Ebonyi State gubernatorial election

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2019 Ebonyi State gubernatorial election

← 2015 March 9, 2019 2023 →

Nominee Dave Umahi Sonni Ogbuoji Party PDP APC Running mate Eric Kelechi Igwe Bernard Odoh Popular vote 393,043 81,703 Percentage 81.54% 16.95%

Governor before election Dave Umahi PDP Elected Governor Dave Umahi PDP

The 2019 Ebonyi State gubernatorial election occurred on March 9, 2019. Incumbent PDP Governor Dave Umahi won re-election for a second term, defeating APC Sonni Ogbuoji and several minor party candidates.^{[1][2][3][4][5]}

Dave Umahi emerged PDP gubernatorial candidate unopposed.^{[6][7][8][9][10]} He picked Eric Kelechi Igwe as his running mate.^{[11][12][13][14]} Sonni Ogbuoji was the APC candidate with Justin Mbam Ogodo as his running mate.^[15][16][17] 37 candidates contested in the election.^[18]

Electoral system

The Governor of Ebonyi State is elected using the plurality voting system.

Primary election

PDP primary

The PDP primary election was held on September 30, 2018.^{[19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27]} Dave Umahi won the primary election unopposed.^{[28][29][30][31][32][33][34][35][36][37][38][39][40][41][excessive citations]}

Candidates

• Party nominee: Dave Umahi: incumbent governor
• Running mate: Eric Kelechi Igwe: incumbent deputy governor

APC primary

The APC primary election was held on September 30, 2018.^{[42][43][44][45][46][47][48][49][50][51][52][53][54][55][56][57][58][59][60][61][62][63][64][excessive citations]} Sonni Ogbuoji won the primary election polling 785 votes against 8 other candidates.^{[65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72][73][74][75][76][77][78][79][80][81][82][83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92][93][excessive citations]} His closest rival was Bernard Odoh, the immediate past secretary to the state government of Ebonyi, who came second with 519 votes. Edward Nkwegu came third with 395 votes.^{[94][95][96][97][98][99][100][101][102][103][104][105][106][107][108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115][116][117][118][119][120][121][122][123][124][125][126][127][128][129][excessive citations]}

Candidates

• Party nominee: Sonni Ogbuoji: Nigerian senator
• Running mate: Justin Mbam Ogodo
• Bernard Odoh: Immediate past secretary to the state government of Ebonyi
• Edward Nkwegu
• Ogbonnaya Obasi
• Austine Edeeze
• Paul Okorie
• Emmanuel Agboti
• Kelechi Chima
• Christian Chukwu

Results

A total number of 37 candidates registered with the Independent National Electoral Commission to contest in the election.^[18]

The total number of registered voters in the state was 1,432,528, while 497,291 voters were accredited. Total number of votes cast was 493,002, while number of valid votes was 482,018. Rejected votes were 10,984.^{[130][131][132][133][134]}

Candidate		Party	Votes	%
	Dave Umahi	People's Democratic Party	393,043	81.54
	Sonni Ogbuoji	All Progressives Congress	81,703	16.95
	Other candidates		7,272	1.51
Total			482,018	100.00
Valid votes			482,018	97.77
Invalid/blank votes			10,984	2.23
Total votes			493,002	100.00
Registered voters/turnout			1,432,528	34.41
Source: Independent Newspapers Nigeria

By local government area

Here are the results of the election by local government area for the two major parties. The total valid votes of 482,018 represents the 37 political parties that participated in the election. Green represents LGAs won by Dave Umahi. Blue represents LGAs won by Sonni Ogbuoji.^[132][135]

LGA	Dave Umahi PDP		Sonni Ogbuoji APC		Total Votes
	#	%	#	%	#
Onicha	52,851		2,497
Ohaozara	48,256		1,004
Ikwo	37,947		11,475
Izzi	34,199		13,430
Ohaukwu	30,606		9,943
Afikpo South	27,720		9,275
Ezza South	27,583		3,245
Ishielu	26,700		3,105
Abakaliki	26,809		9,815
Ebonyi	25,830		5,951
Afikpo North	21,245		7,446
Ivo	19,166		2,055
Ezza North	14,181		2,482
Totals	393,043		81,703		482,018