Rt. Hon. Francis Ejiroghene Waive, has secured the All Progressives Congress (APC) ticket to contest the Ughelli North/Ughelli South/Udu Federal Constituency seat in the 2027 general election under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) after an overwhelmingly peaceful primary held Saturday, May 16.
Declaring the result, Dr. Joseph Onodjae, the returning officer, said the exercise was orderly, transparent and widely participatory but refused to give the actual number of votes counted for Hon. Waive to defeats his opponents, Hon. Eunice Okoh, Hon. Harvest Igben and Hon. Solomon Awhinawhin. However, Party leaders and APC officials praised members for maintaining decorum and adhering to democratic procedures during voting across wards in the constituency.
Waive’s victory followed a wave of strategic withdrawals and endorsements by prominent aspirants including frontline contenders Hon. Frank Ossai and Obukome Ibru who withdrew and publicly backed the incumbent. Engineer Edirin Eta, similarly stepped down and directed their supporters to queue begin Hon. Waive.
Addressing journaoists at the Ughelli North Council Secretariat, Executive Chairman of Udu Local Government Council, Hon. Augustine Oyibode, credited Waive’s legislative record, viable constituency projects, empowerment programs and his ability to attract the Federal Medical Centre, Ovwian as one of the reasons for his victory.
Reacting to the win, Waive thanked party leaders, stakeholders and members for their confidence and pledged to continue delivering effective representation and services to the constituency. ” I thanked all the leaders, and those that step down for me including those that ran with me, i am grateful to them. I have raised the bar before now, and i will do more if voted again.”
He urged unity within the APC as the party prepares for the 2027 polls.
On his part, Ughelli North Local Government Chairman, Olorogun Jaro Egbo, applauded the exercise, describing it as a very competitive primary. He said there is no small election as long one has an opponent, and since it was not a consensus, it was a very competitive election but sues for unity amongst other contestant as their turn is coming.