Amid hitches here and there, the main opposition All
Progressives Congress (APC), yesterday, held governorship primaries across the
country to pick its governorship candidates in 31 states where governorship
elections will hold next year.
In Lagos, at the end of the elections which was concluded this
morning, a former Accountant General of the state, Akinwumi Ambode, a favoured
candidate of APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu won convincingly as he
polled 3,735 votes out of 5816 vote cast to defeat 11 other aspirants.
Ambode defeated 11 other aspirants including the incumbent
Speaker of Lagos House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, a former Commissioner
for Health, Dr. Leke Pitan, a former Attorney General of Lagos, Supo Shasore whom many believed was favoured by
Governor Babatunde Fashola, and a former Commissioner for Works, Dr. Obafemi
Hamzat and others.
Dr. Hamsat, the closest rival scored 1201 while Solomon Solomon Ganiyu scored 272
votes. Others included Shasore,121, Pitan- 112, Tola kasali-68, Tayo Ayinde-17,
Adekunle Disu- 9, Tokunbo Wahab- 7, Lanre Ope- 0, Abayomi sultan-0 and Tokunbo Agbesanwa-0.
Meanwhile, the National leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has charged all
the 12 governorship aspirants of the party in Lagos to accept the result of the
primaries whenever it is announced in order to move the party forward.
Tinubu spoke at the governorship primaries of the APC at the
Onikan Stadium, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria.
The former governor, who was not at the event, but his
speech read by the Lagos Publicity Secretary of the party, Joe Igbokwe, said
over 6,000 delegates had gathered to choose a governorship candidate among the
12 aspirants, saying the event marked the beginning of the march for democracy.
Commending the aspirants for playing the game with decorum,
Tinubu reminded them that only one of them would emerge winner at the end of the
day.
“All of you are qualified but only one of you will win. We
must join hands together to ensure the party wins at the general election.
“The way you conduct yourself will determine how Lagos State
presents itself. All of you should comport yourselves and accept the result of
the primaries as the choice of the party,” he said, adding that the party had
worked tirelessly to make “today possible.”
According to Tinubu, the ememies of the party lied in wait
to see if the APC would fail, urging the aspirants that none of them should
tear the party.
“No one should tear down, let us put the enemies to shame
and remain as one big family,” he appealed to the contestants.
As at press time,
candidates that emerged from the exercises from other states across the country
include Governors Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun), Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Abdulfatah
Ahmed (Kwara), Ibrahim Geidam (Yobe) and Abdulaziz Yari (Zamfara).
 |
•Lagos: Akin Ambode •A/Ibom: Umana Umana •Sokoto: A.
Tambuwal •Rivers: D. Peterside •Niger: A. Sani Bello •Delta: O’tega Emerhor
•Oyo: Abiola Ajimobi •Ogun: Ibikunle Amosun •Enugu: Oky Ezea •Yobe: Ibrahim
Gaidam •Zamfara: Aziz Yari •Nasarawa: T. Al-Makura •Kwara: A. Ahmed Postponed
•Cross River •Benue •Imo •Jigawa
|
Other APC aspirants who clinched the party’s tickets include
Hon Dakuku Peterside (Rivers), Aisha Alhassan (Taraba), Okey Ezea (Enugu),
Olorogun O’tega Emerhor (Delta), Umana Umana (Akwa Ibom), Aminu Tambuwal
(Sokoto).
In Oyo, Governor Abiola Ajimobi has secured the ticket of
the party to contest the governorship race for the second time.
At the primaries of the party which lasted till 7:45pm
yesterday, the governor polled 4,662 votes to defeat his opponents, Dr. Ayobami
Wasiu and the son of late Alhaji Lamidi Adesina who polled 92 votes. Ninety
votes were declared invalid.
The third aspirant, Alhaji Adebayo Shittu, who was on Monday
cleared in Lagos to contest along with the two others withdrew after filing a
suit at the Federal High Court, Ibadan asking the court to declare the congress
invalid and illegal in view of the manner the delegates were selected.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave Your Comment Here