The Young Progressive Party in Abia state has defeated the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the just-announced results of the keenly contested Abia Governorship election to emerge in third position.

This is as Alex Otti of the Labour Party has been announced as governor of the southeastern commercial heartland.

In its dogged push ahead of the election, the YPP had campaigned vigorously and reached out across the various local governments of the state.

The governorship candidate of the YPP, Enyinnaya Nwafor, and his deputy, Chima Anyaso engaged all key stakeholders in the state to ensure that they were the most preferred candidate and party. However, due to the strong positioning of the Labour Party driven by the Peter Obi phenomenon and the incumbency of the ruling PDP, the much dogged YPP clinched the third position which many political analysts said was not a loss but an affirmation of the power of the YPP to muster a great accomplishment in the face of very heavy contenders.

The defeat of the APC, the party at the center, also signals that the party (YPP) has fought a good fight and has won so many hearts in the race for which many Abians believe the YPP has not only actively participated but has a stake in the new emerging leadership in Abia state.

It is worthy of note that Abia state has been under the PDP for 24 years, and the state has faced a worse infrastructure decline in these years. The emergence of new leadership under the Labour Party is set to usher a relief and set the stage for a new trajectory in governance, many believe.

In the announced result, the Labour Party polled 175,467 followed by the PDP which had 88,529 and the YPP with 28,972, and the APC polled 24’091 votes to emerge in fourth position

In his congratulatory message to the governor-elect, the YPP deputy governorship candidate, Chima Anyaso noted that Abia won at last.

He said “I want to congratulate Dr. Alex Otti on his victory at the just concluded gubernatorial elections in Abia State.

“This election was a battle between the people and the PDP. With the declaration of Dr. Otti as the governor-elect, no genuine opposition candidate would feel the hurt of loss.

“WE ALL WON. I am glad that despite their manipulations and evil machinations the will of the people prevailed. Congratulations to Ndi Abia”.