Okechukwu Ezea

Okechukwu Ezea is a Nigerian lawyer, businessman and politician. A member of the Labour Party, he is the senator-elect for Enugu North Senatorial District. He defeated the candidate of the People's Democratic Party, PDP and the incumbent governor of Enugu State Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. Ezea's win in the election is attributed to the “effect of Peter Obi” the presidential candidate of the Labour Party and recorded as one of the major political upsets in the 2023 general elections.[1]

Education and career

Ezea earned a law degree from University of Nigeria, Nsukka before proceeding to the Nigerian Law School after which he was called to the Nigerian Bar. He studied for a master's degree in Political Law at University of Lagos. He is the executive director of Ideke Shippings Limited, a company he founded in 1993.[1]

Politics

Ezea joined politics in 2003 and ran for the office of governor of Enugu State in 2003 and 2007 but failed on both occasions. In 2015, he ran for the nomination of the All Progressives Congress, APC for governorship election but lost.[2] He joined the Laboour Party in the build up to the 2023 elections and secured the nomination of the LP for Enugu North Senatorial District. In the February 25, 2023 elections, he polled 104,948 votes to beat his opponent and the incumbent governor of the state, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of the PDP who scored only 46,948 votes.[3][4][5] His win over the candidate of the PDP marked the first time an opposition candidate would defeat the PDP in the state since the beginning of the Fourth Republic in 1999.

References
  1. NewsDirect (2023-02-27). "Gov. Ugwuanyi loses as INEC declares Okechukwu Ezea winner of Enugu North Senatorial District". Nigeriannewsdirectcom. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  2. "Court Reserves Judgment In Gov Chime's Appeal". 14 October 2014.
  3. Ugwu, Chinagorom (2023-02-27). "Enugu Governor loses senatorial bid to Labour Party candidate". Premium Times Nigeria. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  4. Reporter, NigPilot News (2023-03-06). "IGP Should Arrest Labour Party Enugu North Senator-Elect, Okechukwu Ezea Over Political Violence Now – HURIWA". Retrieved 2023-04-22.
  5. Samson, Benjamin (2023-03-17). "Political violence: Withdraw Ezea's Certificate of Return, HURIWA tells INEC". Blueprint Newspapers Limited: Breaking news happening now in Nigeria and todays latest newspaper headlines. Retrieved 2023-04-22.
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