Audu’s sons, ex-chief of naval staff — 6 top APC aspirants disqualified from Kogi guber race

On Monday, the screening committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi state disqualified 12 aspirants vying for the party’s ticket to represent it in the November 16 governorship election.

The 12 aspirants disqualified by the committee include Mohammed Audu, Mustapha Audu, Usman Jubrin, Yakubu Mohammed, Rukkaya Ibrahim, Hadiza Ibrahim, Sani Abdullahi Lulu,  Yahaya Audu, Patrick Akpa Adenu, Seidu Mohammed Onaili, Danlani Umar Mohammed.

The committee also cleared four aspirants–Yahaya Bello, Kogi governor; Abubakar Bashir, Blessing Ekele, Hassan Abdullahi to contest the primary election scheduled for Thursday.

However, the national working committee of the party on Wednesday approved five more aspirants.

It said it took the decision after deliberating on the report of screening and appeal committees.

The five aspirants who were previously disqualified but have now been cleared are Hadiza Ibrahim, Yakubu Mohammed, Yahaya Audu, Sani Abdullahi Lulu, Danlami Mohammed.

Like every game, in politics, there will always be winners and losers.

We take a look at the winners, losers and implications of the disqualification.

Among the aspirants disqualified are:

USMAN JIBRIN

Jibrin, 59, was born in Okura Olafia, a town in Dekina local government area of Kogi. He was appointed chief of naval staff, the highest-ranking military officer of the Nigerian Navy, by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

He occupied the position between January 2014 and July 2015.

MOHAMMED ONAILO

Mohammed Onailo was born on August 17, 1960, in Abejukolo, Omala local government area of Kogi.

He is a professor and the director-general of the National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).

Ogah had told Bello that he would dislodge him as Kogi governor but he was disqualified from contesting the primary over conflicting dates of birth and “incomplete nomination by party members”.

MOHAMMED AUDU

Mohammed Audu and Mustapha Audu are the sons of late Abubakar Audu, two-time governor of Kogi state. While Mohammed was disqualified for “invalid nomination form”, his brother was not cleared over “invalid nomination process”.

PATRICK ADENU

Patrick Adenu, a retired army general, was not cleared over “unsigned and invalid nomination form” and for not being a financial member of the party.

RUKKAYA IBRAHIM

Of the three female aspirants’ is the only one who did not scale through to the primaries.

According to the party, Ibrahim was disqualified for four reasons; “Incomplete nomination form, no PVC, invalid declaration of age, not being a committed party member”.

N146 MILLION DOWN THE DRAIN

The party required the aspirants to purchase its nomination and expression of interest forms at N22.5m each for men, while the women paid N11.25m.

In total, six men and one woman were disqualified, amounting to N146m.

The 12 aspirants did not only lose their chances to be Kogi’s number one citizen but also lost some good money.

DOUBLE LOSS FOR AUDU’S SONS

Yahaya Bello’s emergence as Kogi governor was birthed by the death of Abubakar Audu, shortly after the announcement of the governorship election results on November 22, 2015. Bello, who lost the APC governorship ticket to Audu, became the biggest beneficiary of his demise.

Two of his sons, Mohammed and Mustapha, who are seeking reclaim their “father’s mandate”, were disqualified even before the race began.