Kogi guber election: APC congress ratifies Ododo’s candidacy

The candidacy of Ahmed Usman Ododo as the flag-bearer of the All Progressives Congress in the Kogi State governorship election, scheduled for November 11, has been ratified by a special congress of the party.

Ododo’s emergence is in line with the guidelines for the primary election, held on Friday in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.

The special congress, presided over by Bello Matawalle, chairman of the Kogi APC Primary Election Committee and governor of Zamfara State, was held on Saturday at the Muhammadu Buhari Civic Centre in Lokoja, according to a statement.

It followed the emergence of Ododo, a former auditor-general for local governments, as the APC candidate at the party’s governorship direct primaries.

Announcing the results for ratification, Patrick Obahiagbon, secretary of the committee, who represented Matawalle, said: “After the carefully conducted primaries, devoid of rancour and with no violence recorded anywhere in the state, and having garnering 78,704 votes across all the 239 wards of the state, Usman Ododo has been returned as the governorship candidate that will fly the party’s flag in the November 11 governorship election in the state.”

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In his acceptance speech, Ododo promised to continue to improve on the security template laid down by the incumbent Governor Yahaya Bello, among many other life-changing legacies of the current administration.

Governor Yaya Bello, who also spoke at the event, said he was sure that Ododo would not disappoint voters, adding that the crowd at the Congress gave credence to his acceptability across the length and breadth of the state, without consideration for ethnic or religious bias.

“Today’s event shows that there is no opposition in Kogi State. We are one big family; we have won everything winnable in the state. We won the presidential election, we won the available three senatorial seats; six out of nine House of Representatives seats; and 23 out of 25 state assembly seats. This is a pass mark by any standard,” Bello said.