Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State at the screening of the governorship aspirants in the state for the November 16 election consolidated on his political domination of the state, overwhelming his opponents who have been plotting to stop him from getting the party’s ticket for a second tenure.
National Daily learned that in the screening of the 16 governorship aspirants conducted by the seven-man Committee led by Senator Hope Uzodinma at the National Secretariat of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Abuja, Governor Bello and three other aspirants were cleared by the committee to contest the APC primary election scheduled for August 29, while 12 others were disqualified from proceeding further with their governorship ambitions.
Reports indicated that the three other aspirants cleared by the Committee include Hassan Abdullahi, Ekete Aishat Blessing and Abubakar Bashir. The 12 that were disqualified were identified to include Mohammed Audu and Mustapha Audu identified as two sons of late Abubakar Audu, former Governor of Kogi State. They were said to be disqualified over invalid nomination form and not being financial APC members.
Other aspirants disqualified by the committee include Usman Jubril (retired Navy Admiral); Seidu Ogah (a professor); Yakubu Mohammed (journalist); Hadiza Ibrahim, Bashir Gegu, Sani Lulu, Tunde Irukera, etc.
There were, however, protests that the governor influenced APC leaders on the decision to disqualify certain aspirants while retaining those not too strong to challenge him effectively at the primary election. There were indications that the power game is being played and Governor Yahaya Bello is having his way; his opponents are being weakened and eliminated in the build up to the main election. Political calculations from the Kogi APC show that Governor Bello is as good as having the APC governorship ticket for the November 16 polls.
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