Samson Okwu
Samson Okwu (born 7 February 1974) is a Nigerian politician and member of the Federal House of Representatives for Oju/Obi Federal Constituency in the 7th to 9th National Assembly.[1] A member of the People's Democratic Party, PDP, he failed re-election to the house in the 2023 elections after being defeated by his long-standing opponent, David Ogewu of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
Political career
Okwu was first elected to the Federal House of Representatives in 2011 and won re-election to the house in 2015 and 2019.[2] He was chairman House Committee on Air Force from 2015 to 2019 and was the leader of the Benue State PDP Caucus in the House.[3] In 2019, he lost at the poll to David Ogewu of All Progressive Grand Alliance but reclaimed his mandate from Election Petitions Tribunal after proving that Ogewu was wrongly declared the winner of the election using only the results from Oju LGA before the result from Obi which had about 59,000 registered voters was announced. At the Tribunal, Okwu proved that the valid votes cast in the election showed that his opponent Ogweu scored 12,562 in Oju and 874 in Obi (13,436) while he the petitioner (Okwu) scored 6,637 in Oju and 7,543 in Obi (14,180). The Tribunal then nullified the election of Ogewu and declared Okwu the winner of the election.[4][5] Ogewu's appeal at the Appeal Court to upturn the judgment of the lower court to retain his seat failed losing the seat to Okwu.
In 2023, both men ran against each other for the same seat. This time Ogewu ran on the ticket of the APC following his resignation from APGA while Okwu remained on the ticket of the PDP. Ogewu scored 26,450 defeating his Okwu the incumbent member of the House of Reps who polled only 12,506 votes.[6]
References
- ^ Okafor, Judd-Leonard (19 October 2019). "NASS tussle: Appellate court upholds Okwu's election". Daily Trust. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
- ^ "Gbajabiamila Swears in Chidoka, Okwu, Ogah – THISDAYLIVE". www.thisdaylive.com. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
- ^ "Benue PDP reps caucus leader, Hon Okwu hails Ortom for encouraging youths participation in governance". Vanguard. 13 November 2020.
- ^ "Tribunal upholds Benue Rep's election". www.premiumtimesng.com. Premium Times. 9 September 2015. Archived from the original on 27 April 2023. Retrieved 9 June 2023.
- ^ Ebhota-Akoma, Eseohe (29 August 2019). "NASS election: Tribunal declares Okwu winner of Oju/Obi constituency". Daily Trust. Retrieved 22 April 2023.
- ^ "#NigeriaElections2023: Mark's daughter, Akume's wife, others win Rep seats in Benue". Punch Newspapers. 27 February 2023. Retrieved 22 April 2023.