The Independent National Electoral Commission has declared Olaka Nwogu of the Peoples Democratic Party as the winner of the Rivers South-East senatorial by-election, following a sweeping victory in Saturday’s poll .
Nwogu secured a total of 47,961 votes, defeating candidates of other participating political parties by a wide margin across the seven local government areas that make up the senatorial district .
The candidate of the All Progressives Congress garnered 1,647 votes, the Action Alliance came third with 1,175 votes, while the Labour Party finished with 367 votes .
All four political parties that participated in the election—PDP, APC, AA, and LP—are part of what has become known in Rivers political circles as Wike’s “Rainbow Coalition,” a broad alliance of political interests believed to be working in concert in the state.
Sources within the coalition had earlier indicated that the alliance collectively settled on Senator-elect Olaka Nwogu as its preferred candidate ahead of the election, a development that significantly shaped the dynamics of the contest .
The by-election was conducted to fill the vacancy created by the death of former senator Barry Mpigi, who passed away in February.
Nwogu’s emergence is expected to further strengthen the influence of the Wike-backed political bloc in Rivers State.
This report was originally produced by Ondo Press News.
