Former Cross River Governor, Donald Duke has emerged the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) after defeating former Information Minister, Prof Jerry Gana in the party’s presidential primary results announced early Sunday morning.
The party’s National Convention held at Old Parade Ground, Abuja.
Duke pooled 812 votes to clinch the ticket ahead of Gana, who scored 611 votes.
Other aspirants included John Dara (104 votes), Prof. Hagher Iyorwuese (72 votes), and Felix Osakwe (10 votes), while 63 votes were declared invalid.
A total of 1,726 delegates were accredited for the presidential primary overseen by the party’s National Vice Chairman and Returning Officer, Abdul Isiaq.
Speaking after being declared winner by Abdul in Abuja, Duke lamented the challenges confronting the nation, noting that Nigeria is a far cry from where she should be.
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His acceptance speech read, “I want to thank the Almighty God for making this come through. I thank my fellow contestants. This is the first and it is going to an arduous journey.
“We are far cry from where and what we want to be. We will make a different. We will campaign with selling our ideologies and decency to all Nigerians.
“We cannot do this alone. Nigerians deserve something better than what we have.
“What divides our nation is inadequacy and wants. We are guided by rules and regulations. We will be where we ought to be. Our national chairman is indeed a model.”
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