The candidate of Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, has been named the winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial ticket for next November’s governorship election.
Other contestants, who were ‘alloted’ votes, are grumbling over the result announced in Lokoja, the Kogi State capital.
But there were also indications on Saturday that a parallel group may announce another result from Abuja. The result from Abuja, according to a source, was the outcome of a parallel primary conducted in the state.
“There is trouble in the land,” the source, who asked not to be named, told Everyday.ng on Saturday afternoon.
He also notedt the fact that Governor Matawalle Bello of Zamfara State who is the chairman of the Kogi APC Primary Election Committee, did not announce the disputed result is a pointer to trouble.
However, the former Auditor General for Local Governments in the state, Alhaji Ahmed Usman Ododo, won in the announced primary election conducted across the state on Friday.
Hon. Patrick Obahiagbon, Secretary of the Kogi State APC Primary Election Committee who announced the results declared Ododo as the winner of the primary election and emergence as the party’s flagbearer in the forthcoming November 11, election.
Ododo polled 78,704 out of the 83,419 total valid votes cast in the primaries.
He beat Barr. Mohammed Ozigi Salami who scored 1,506 coming far behind with Shaibu Abubakar Audu polling 763 votes; Prof. Stephen Ikani Ocheni, 552.
Dr Sanusi Ohiare polled 424 while the Senator Smart Adeyemi got 311 votes.
Curiously, no vote was ascribed to the Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Murtala Ajaka, who was a contestant in the election, amid whispers that he carried the day in the parallel primary election.
24 hours to the election eight contestants including state Deputy Governor Edward Onoja; Chief Of Staff to Governor Yahaya Bello, Mohammed Jamiu Abdulkareem Asuku, withdrew from the race.