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By Hilary Ogili
It was a carnival of sort when thousands of All Progressive Party (APC) stakeholders and members, yesterday, converged on Ibagwa-Aka, the headquarters of Igbo-Eze South Local Government Area of Enugu State for the grand finale of the campaign for the Enugu North Senatorial District by-election.
The re-run poll slated for Saturday, June 20, 2026 is to fill the vacuum created by the unfortunate demise of Labour Party’s Senator Okey Ezea.
On paper, the contest is viewed as a three-horse race between three parties’ flag bearers. These are Chief Ikeje Asogwa of the All Progressives Party (APC), Dr. Nestor Ezeme of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Bishop Oscar Ossai of the National Democratic Congress (NDC).
However, as the voters go to the polls, the odds clearly favour Chief Asogwa. The reasons are not far-fetched.
He enjoys unprecedented support of the constituents, courtesy of his well-known philanthropy and record of achievements in his previous assignments.
With the backing of Governor Peter Mbah and immediate past governor, Rt. Hon. Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, in addition to the six local government chairmen, victory seems imminent for Asogwa (Ide Iheaka).
According to former Governor Ugwuanyi, “I stand by Chief Ikeje Asogwa and my party, the APC. Any claim to the contrary is fake news and should be dismissed and disregarded by the public.”
Ugwuanyi made the remarks against recent claims that he was backing another candidate. As he put it, “these false reports are the handiwork of mischief makers who have resorted to propaganda and deception in pursuit of electoral gains. The people should not be misled”.
The massive support by Governor Mbah as demonstrated throughout the campaigns which climaxed with the mega rally at Igbo-Eze South yesterday signposts Asogwa’s predictable cruise to victory on Saturday.
For the PDP’s Ezeme, his biggest undoing is that he hails from Udenu Local Government Area and not Igbo-Eze South to which the Senate seat is currently zoned. His chances are further affected because the Deputy Governor, Barr. Ifeanyi Ossai is from the same Udenu Council.
Though NDC’s Ossai is from Igbo-Eze South like Ikeje Asogwa, the former is a green horn in the politics of Enugu North Senatorial District and has not been campaigning like his other rivals.
In truth, his emergence was a big surprise and raised questions as to NDC’s 2027 game plans. Mouths are still aghast pertaining how Ossai was picked from the party primaries which included four-term federal lawmaker and highly-influential Dr. Patrick Asadu.
It was, therefore, understandable that there was celebration among APC members when NDC, shockingly denied Asadu the ticket because he has the financial muscle and the followers hip to challenge the ruling party.
With 48 hours to the day of decision, it is without doubt that the odds clearly favour Ikeje Asogwa.
• Ogili wrote in from Enugu.
