Prince Abubakar Audu

Abubakar, former governor of Kogi state, from 1999-2003,  has  emerged the candidate of the All Progressives Congress in the party primaries held Saturday in Lokoja.

Abubakar Audu  defeated 26 other candidates, including, Yahaya Bello, said to be popular with the young generation in the state

The former governor  won the majority of the 3044 votes in the party primary election that ended around 4:00 am  today. Counting of ballots  started at 7.55 a.m.

Audu polled 1, 109 votes to beat his closest rival, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, who scored 703 votes.

A former Senator, Alhaji Nurudeen Abatemi, scored 400 votes to place third .

Another aspirant, Alhaji Sanusi Abubakar, scored 309 votes, while Hajia Hadiza Ibrahim, the only female among the 28 aspirants, scored four votes.

Out of the 3,548 delegates, 3,044 were accredited by the Electoral Panel, while 29 votes were declared invalid.

Gov. Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, the Chairman of the Electoral Panel, commended the aspirants for their maturity and commitment to the ideals of the party.

El-Rufai urged the Audu and other contenders to quickly close ranks and work together to ensure the victory of the party in the coming election.

Yahaya Bello: comes second

In his response, Audu thanked members of the electoral panel for making the election transparent , free and fair.

He called on other aspirants to accept the result in good faith and work with him in harmony in the interest of the party.

“ Letus work together in harmony , we have serious task ahead. To unseat an incumbent is not easy but we can do it, “ he said.

Audu described the result of the election “as no victor, no vanquished’’ and praised all the aspirants for their courage and comport before and during the primary election.

Bello, who spoke on behalf of the other aspirants, described the primary election as transparent, free and fair and lauded the members of the electoral panel for their efforts.

He advised Audu to live up to his position as a leader and father, describing APC as a big family.

Bello, also advised the winner to carry all aspirants and stakeholders along , pledging that they would work with him to win the election.

The Kogi state governorship election is billed to take place on 21  November 2015.

Mr. Abubakar  at the moment is under trial  by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) for money laundering and  misappropriation of  N11 billion of the state’s funds while he was governor between 1999 and 2003.

*Updated at 13.56 pm Nigerian time