The Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Prof. Julius Ihonvbere, has lost his bid to return to the Green Chamber for a third term after being defeated in the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election for Owan Federal Constituency in Edo State.
Ihonvbere, a professor of political science and former presidential adviser, was first elected to the House of Representatives in 2019. He was re-elected in 2023 and subsequently appointed Majority Leader of the 10th Assembly—a position he has held since July 2023 .
However, the primary held at the party secretariat in Afuze on Saturday saw the lawmaker lose to a former Edo State Commissioner for Mining, Andrew Ijegbai, who polled 3,695 votes.
Announcing the result, the Returning Officer, Kelvin Muhammed, said five aspirants participated in the contest. He stated that Abdul Oroh polled 1,740 votes, while Ihonvbere scored 1,005 votes. Folly Ogidegbe got 505 votes, and Barrister Stewart secured 642 votes .
Muhammed added that a total of 7,587 votes were cast in the exercise and declared Ijegbai as the party’s candidate for the constituency.
“The winner of this contest and the party’s candidate for the House of Representatives election is Hon. Andrew Ijegbai,” he said .
Political observers linked the defeat to a zoning arrangement within the Owan Federal Constituency, which mandates the rotation of the seat between Owan East and Owan West local government areas after two terms. Ihonvbere, who hails from Owan West, had completed the permitted two terms .
Reacting to his victory, Ijegbai commended the APC leadership and delegates for what he described as a transparent and credible process, pledging to offer quality representation if elected in the general election.
In a related development, the member representing Oredo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Eseosa Iyawe, also lost his re-election bid in the APC primary .
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