Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle has been declared the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in next year’s general election.
The Chairman Electoral Committee for the APC governorship primary election in the state, Babagana Tijani, made the announcement on Thursday. He disclosed that Matawalle polled 733 votes to emerge as the winner of the primary election.
The governor secured the ticket for his second term bid unopposed as other aspirants in the race withdrew from the contest as a result of the consensus arrangement which the APC in Zamfara State adopted as the mode of the exercise.
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At the primary, 735 delegates voted with the governor getting 733 votes, while two votes were invalid.
Reacting to the outcome of the exercise, Governor Bello Matawalle thanked the delegates for voting for him to be the candidate of the party in the 2023 general election.
He promised to work with party faithfuls and supporters to deepen democratic practices in the state.
The exercise was carried out without rancour in the presence of security agents, representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and the media.
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu won in Lagos State after two other aspirants – former Commissioner of Energy, Mr Wale Oluwo and former Permanent Secretary from the Ministry of Energy, Mr Mustapha Olorunfemi – were not cleared for the primary.
More than 1,225 delegates were expected to cast their votes in the exercise and 1,198 were accredited.
Of those accredited, 1,182 votes were cast with 12 regarded as invalid.
In Ogun State, Governor Dapo Abiodun won by 1,168 votes to defeat five other aspirants.
However, two of the aspirants, Adekunle Akinlade and Biyi Otegbeye, had rejected the chairmanship of the election committee and passed a vote of no confidence on the Chairman of the governorship election primaries, Wale Ohu.
The aspirants, in a jointly signed press statement, also expressed reservations on the delegate list used for the exercise held at the Moshood Abiola stadium in Abeokuta, the state capital
