Senator Tokunboh Afikuyomi
By Our Reporter
The National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) caretaker committee, Abdullahi Adamu has set up 28 sub-committees to conduct governorship election primaries across the country.
The APC is expected to hold its governorship primaries in 28 out of the 36 states of the federation.
Eight states do not hold governorship elections during the four-year election cycle.
The party had last week screened 145 governorship aspirants.
According to the list, Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi and others are expected to conduct the primary election in Oyo State.
Aspirants contesting for the APC ticket in the state include the party’s candidate in 2019, Adebayo Adelabu; the senator representing Oyo Central, Teslim Folarin; and two governorship aspirants in 2019, Azeez Adeduntan and Akeem Agbaje.
Others are a senior lawyer, Niyi Akintola; Chairman of the board of the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Adeolu Akande, and a new entrant into the party, Hakeem Alao.
However, Adelabu and Folarin are considered major aspirants among those jostling for the ticket.
Uche Nwosu, a son-in-law to former Governor Rochas Okorocha, will head the Niger State election appeal committee.
In President Muhammadu Buhari’s home state of Katsina, the Borno State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Barr. Kaka Shehu Lawan will be leading four others to conduct the exercise.
Other members include Barr. Bello B. I. Yakubu, Imrana Ahmed Haruna, Adamu Isiyaku U. J and Barr. Sadiq Ali.
Nine aspirants are jostling for the party’s ticket in order to take over from Governor Aminu Bello Masari in 2023.
Those who submitted their forms and are advancing reasons why they should be given the opportunity to govern the state are the Deputy Governor of the state, Mannir Yakubu; former Secretary to the State Government, Mustapha Muhammed Inuwa; former Commissioner for Budget and Economic Planning, Faruk Lawal Jobe; and former Managing Director, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria, Ahmed Musa Dangiwa.
Others are the former Managing Director, Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Company (NSPMC), Abbas Umar Masanawa; former Director-General of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Umar Dikko Radda; former Chief Personal Security Officer (CPSO) to President Buhari, Abdulkarim Dauda Daura; Senator Abubakar Sadiq Yar’Adua and Umar Abdullahi Tauri Tata.
In Lagos State, a former Borno State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Adamu Shettima Yuguda Dibal will be conducting the primary involving Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Olawale Oluwo and AbdulAhmed Mustapha.
With Sanwo-Olu’s endorsement by the National Leader of the party and presidential aspirant, Bola Tinubu, it is almost impossible for Oluwo and Mustapha to pull an upset.
Other chairmen of the committees include Chief. Tonie Obiefuna (Abia), Gambo Lawan (Adamawa), Omoba Tunde Ajibulu (Akwa Ibom), Hon. Umar Bature (Bauchi), Sen. K Gwadabe (Benue), Hon. Othman jalaba (Enugu), Sen. Tijjani Kaura (Kano), H.E Ali Saad B/Kudu (Kebbi), Barr. Anachina Henry (Kaduna), Larry Odeh (Rivers), Chief Lawrence Onuchukwu (Taraba) and Hon. Babagana Tijjani Banki (Zamfara).
