• Karani garnered 1,275 votes beating two former MCAs Hamza Yusuf and Emmanuel Changawa, who garnered 653 votes and 914 votes respectively.
• The seat was declared vacant after the High Court nullified the election of Changawa following an election petition filed by Karani.
ODM on Sunday declared Dickson Karani as the party's flagbearer after winning the nomination in a landslide ahead of the April 29 by-election.
Karani garnered 1,275 votes beating two former MCAs Hamza Yusuf and Emmanuel Changawa, who garnered 653 votes and 914 votes respectively.
The seat was declared vacant after the High Court nullified the election of Changawa following an election petition filed by Karani.
In his acceptance speech, Karani said he was happy for winning the ticket, terming the journey as a tough, having only campaigned for two days.
"At long last, we have won in a justified way and open process. I am happy because no one complained that their votes were stolen," he said.
Karani told his supporters to remain firm as the process had just started to ensure they win the Dabaso ward seat.
"We agreed with my competitors that whoever wins in the nomination will get support from the losers. I thus believe that since I have won, they will come on board as we unite for the betterment of our ODM party," he said.
The turn out for the nomination was high in almost all the 10 polling stations but many voters were locked out as their names were missing in the IEBC register that was agreed upon by all the three candidates.
Naftali Otieno, the ODM returning officer, handed the nomination certificate to Karani, who was backed by a group of sitting MCAs.
Immediately after the results were announced, the MCAs and Karani's supporters begun celebrating inside the tallying centre at Gede Youth Polytechnic.
Security was tight as officers drawn from Kilifi, Malindi and Watamu areas ensured law and order was maintained throughout the process.
His competitors did not, however, appear contented with the results.
"For today I have nothing to say but I will say much either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow," a bitter Changawa said.
Yusuf, who was MCA between 2013-17, said it was the beginning of the journey and announced that those celebrating will be surprised during the by-election.
''Primaries were today April 29 we can fully celebrate when we have the winner so it is too early to drum support or rather feel happy about these elections,'' he said.
The former MCA said those who were shouting in excitement were not voters in Dabaso.
Asked whether he would shift to another party, Yusuf said he would not comment but promised to "surprise everyone".
Reports indicate that the nomination exhibited supremacy battle between Lands CAS Gideon Munga'aro and Kilifi North MP Owen Baya, who all have interests in the governor seat in 2022 and hail from Dabaso.