By Jude Opara
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has secured a decisive victory in the Enugu North Senatorial District by-election, with its candidate, Chief Ikeje Asogwa, emerging winner by a commanding margin.
Results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Returning Officer, Prof. Christian Ezeibe, showed that Asogwa polled 162,360 votes to defeat his closest challenger, Chief Nestor Ezeme of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who garnered 9,299 votes.
Declaring the result in Nsukka on Sunday, Ezeibe said the APC candidate fulfilled all legal requirements and was therefore returned elected.
“Asogwa, having satisfied the requirements of the law in this election, is hereby declared the winner and is returned,” he announced.
The by-election was held to fill the vacancy created by the death of Senator Okey Ezea, who represented Enugu North Senatorial District until his passing on November 18, 2025.
According to the election figures, the senatorial district had 727,340 registered voters, while 184,094 voters were accredited to participate in the poll.
Other candidates in the race trailed significantly behind the APC and PDP contenders. Chika Idoko Emmanuel of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) secured 1,676 votes, Kingsley Aneke of the Boot Party (BP) polled 1,607 votes, while Ejike Simon Eze of the Labour Party (LP) received 1,027 votes.
The Nigerian Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, OssElias Okwudiri Ossai, garnered 3,129 votes, while Charles Ugochukwu of the Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) scored 667 votes.
In his acceptance speech, Asogwa described the outcome as a reflection of the confidence and trust reposed in him by voters across the six local government areas that make up the senatorial district.
The senator-elect pledged to provide effective representation and work towards addressing the needs and aspirations of the people, assuring constituents that he would justify the mandate given to him through the ballot.
The victory marks a significant political gain for the APC in Enugu State, traditionally regarded as a stronghold of opposition parties in the South-East region.
