Hon Mathew iduoriyekemwen emerged as factional PDP candidate at Edo State governorship election primary.

A former member of the Edo ‎State House of Assembly, Matthew Iduoriyekemwen, has won the Peoples Democratic Party gubernatorial primary organised by the Ali-Modu Sheriff faction of the party at the Samuel Ogbemudia Stadium in Benin.

Iduoriyekemwen, who represented Edo in the Niger Delta Development Commission, and a member representing Egor and Ikpoba-Okha constituency in the House of Representatives, Johnson Agbonayima, had been cleared to contest the ticket of the party.‎

Voting commenced at 4:24pm, with the accredited delegates casting their ballot papers according to their respective local government areas.

However, the chairman of the electoral committee, Ahmed Gulak, said Iduoriyekemwen won with a total of 481 valid votes after his opponent, Johnson Agbonayima, voluntarily stepped down.

Gulak declared the former Majority Leader as the winner of the exercise at about 5:20pm on Wednesday.

He explained that out of a total of 677 accredited delegates who participated in the election, 502 votes were cast while 21 votes were rendered invalid.

No official from the Independent National Electoral Commission was, however, present to monitor the exercise.

In his address, the ex-political adviser to former President Goodluck Jonathan ‎noted that Iduoriyekemwen would fly the flag of the opposition party in the September 10 governorship polls and be returned as Governor.

‘Authentic primary’

The National Vice Chairman of the party under Ali-Modu Sheriff group, Mr. Cairo Ojougboh, said that ‎Sheriff remained the authentic National Chairman of the PDP.

Ojougboh also described Wednesday’s exercise as the only authentic gubernatorial primary ‎of the party.

‎ “I want to state for the benefit of Nigerians that this primary (election) today is the only authentic primary for Edo State. If you are in doubt, go to INEC and find our whether I have lied or not; I am a man of integrity and I don’t lie,” he said.

“I want to also state that the only chairman of PDP recognised by law in Nigeria is Ali-Modu Sheriff and his National Working Committee.”