Former Governor Audu Abubakar in white, outside the court in Abuja

Alhaji Abubakar Audu, the former governor of the central Nigerian state of Kogi, has formally declared his intention to contest the forthcoming governorship election in the state on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He made the declaration on Sunday in Lokoja at a rally of party members and supporters.

Audu who is also a prince, is at present facing EFCC charges for contract scam and embezzlement of public funds running into N11 billion, when he ran the state between 1999 and 2003. Prince Audu is being prosecuted alongside a former Director General of the Directorate of Rural Development in his administration, Alfa Ibn Mustapha, for offences bordering on criminal breach of trust and misappropriation of public funds to the tune of N10,965,837,040.

https://thenewsnigeria.com.ng2015/03/04/former-governor-audu-attacks-efcc-official-in-court/Prince Audu is being prosecuted alongside a former Director General of the Directorate of Rural Development in his administration, Alfa Ibn Mustaph

He said that his decision to join the race was borne out of the desire to salvage the state from the woods, saying “Kogi is currently in bad shape.’’

He expressed his readiness to tackle the problem of infrastructural decay, the rot in the education sector and rid the state capital, Lokoja of perennial filth which, he said, had made it the dirtiest town in recent time.

Audu described the rumours making the rounds that he would cut workers salaries and retrench some workers as the handiwork of his political enemies, saying he was not on revenge mission.

The former governor urged well-meaning people of the state to shun tribalism and bury their differences in the interest of the state.

He also urged them to rise to the dreams of the founding fathers by ensuring that the state succeeds.

On the agitation for power shift by the people of Kogi West and Kogi Central senatorial districts, Audu said that he strongly support the agitation and would be happy to be part of its actualisation in 2019.

He described the people of the three senatorial districts as brothers and sisters and urged them not to allow the issue of power rotation to generate bad blood and disrupt their existing peaceful co-existence.

Commenting on the number of aspirants that had indicated their interest to vie for the governorship ticket with him, Audu said that some of were agents of opposition parties working to cause chaos in the APC.

He said that he had it on a good authority that some of them were given money to pay for the N5.5 million nomination form of the party.

He said that aspirants who joined the party shortly before and after the last general elections would not have their way.

The APC has meanwhile said the screening of its Kogi State governorship aspirants will begin on Monday.

So, far 27 aspirants have obtained the party’s N5.5million expression of interest forms from the APC’s national secretariat in Abuja, swelling the party’s coffers with N148m.

The others aspirants, apart from Audu are; James Ocholi (SAN), Alhaji Yahaya Bello, Senator Nicholas Ugbane, Sani Shuaibu, Suleiman Baba Ali, Air Vice Marshall Saliu Atawodi, Muhammad Abdullahi, Senator Nuruddeen Usman, and Hajiya Hadiza Ibrahim.

They also include the veteran journalist and one of the founding fathers of Newswatch Magazine, Mr. Yakubu Muhammad, Chief Clarence Olafemi, Mr. Suleiman Abutu, Mr. Sunday Ejibo, Suleiman Ipinmisho, and Dr. Tim Diche.

Others are Mr. Habeeb Yakeen, Rotimi Obadofin, Babatunde Irukera, Mr. Olusola Oluwaranti, Dr. Onukaba Adinoyi, Aliyu Zakari, Senator Alex Kadiri, Alhaji Abubakar Umar, Idris Kashim and Dr. Sanusi Abubakar.