The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi State has chosen the state Auditor General, Ahmed Usman Ododo, as its candidate for the November 11 governorship election. The decision was announced by Governor Yahaya Bello at a stakeholders’ meeting on Thursday at the party secretariat in Lokoja.
The meeting was attended by the Chairman of the primary election committee, Governor Mohammed Bello-Matawale of Zamfara, who confirmed the development. He said that all other aspirants who have not withdrawn from the race are free to participate in Friday’s primary to be held across the state.
However, some of the prominent aspirants have already pulled out of the contest, including the Deputy Governor, Edward Onoja; and the Chief of Staff to Governor Bello, Mohammed Asuku. They both declared their loyalty and support for the governor’s choice on their respective Facebook pages shortly after the meeting.
Other aspirants who have also withdrawn from the race are David Jimoh, Ashiru Idris, Okala Yakubu, and Momoh Jubril. The remaining aspirants include Abdulkareem Asuku, Murtala Ajaka, and Smart Adeyemi.
Meanwhile, the APC has adopted the direct mode of primary for its Kogi State governorship primary election. This means that all registered members of the party will vote for their preferred candidate.
The party had earlier opted for indirect primary based on the request of the State Working Committee (SWC), but later reversed itself following protests by aspirants and party stakeholders. The party said a special congress will be held on Saturday to ratify the candidate with the highest number of votes at the primary.
