Ahead of governorship election in Kogi state slated for November 16 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the incumbent governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has emerged the standard bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The exercise which commenced as early as 8 am Thursday at Confluence Stadium in Lokoja, witnessed the accreditation of 3,596 delegates out of a total number of 3,838 delegates drawn from the 239 wards of the 21 local government areas of the state.
The exercise was held in the presence of INEC representatives.
Declaring the result, chairman of the electoral committee and governor of Jigawa state, Alhaji Abubakar Badaru, said the incumbent governor polled 3,091 votes to emerge winner of the contest.
Announcing the breakdown of the results , the chairman of the electoral committee said Hadiza Ibrahim scored zero, Yahaya Odidi Audu polled 10 votes while Sani Lulu Abdullahi also had 7 votes.
He said Engr. Abubakar Bashir had 3 votes while Engr. Danlami Umar Mohammed, Yakubu Mohammed and Ikele Aisha Blessing scored zero vote each at the end of the exercise.
Speaking further , Governor Badaru said Hassan Abdullahi Baiwa polled 44 votes just as
Babatunde Irukera scored 109 votes to emerge second .
As the results were being awaited, Justice Abdul Awulu, the vacation judge sitting in a high court in Lokoja, dismissed an ex parte application to stop the governorship primaries of the APC in the state.
Ruling in the application filed by Alhaji Mustapha Audu, a governorship aspirant, Justice Awulu held that the court cannot stop the primaries by order.
The SDP primary election also took place in Lokoja and was witnessed by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). There were 856 delegates from across the 21 local government councils of the state.
The election which was by indirect primary saw Akpoti scoring 90 per cent of the total votes.
The returning officer, Mr Ben Ogbonna from the national secretariat of the party declared Akpoti as the duly elected governorship candidate of the party for the November 16 governorship election.
In her acceptance speech, the standard bearer pledged to turn around the fortune of the state, thanking the delegates for finding her worthy to offer quality leadership in the state.
