Ododo, Yahaya Bello’s anointed candidate, wins Kogi APC guber primary

Ahmed Ododo has been elected as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kogi state.

Patrick Obahiagbon, secretary of the Kogi APC primary election committee, announced on Friday that Ododo scored 78, 704 votes to beat six other contestants.

Salami Momodu got 1506 votes, Abubakar Yahaya-Ashemogu secured 1159 and Shaaibu Abubakar-Audu polled 763 votes.

Stephen Ocheni garnered 552 votes, Sanusi Ohiare had 424, and Smart Adeyemi got 311 votes.

According to Obahiagbon, out of the 93,729 voters, 83,419 were accredited and took part in the exercise.

“Ododo, having scored the majority of the lawful votes cast at the direct primary election conducted on April 14, 2023, in Kogi, is hereby declared the winner of the APC primary election 2023,” he said.

“Ahmed Usman-Ododo is hereby returned as the duly elected governorship candidate of APC for the November 2023 governorship election.”

Ododo was the former local government auditor-general in Kogi state. He is believed to be the preferred candidate of Yahaya Bello, governor of the state.

Edward Onojo, the deputy governor, and some other aspirants had recently withdrawn from the race after Bello reportedly endorsed Ododo.

Kogi APC had adopted the direct primary election mode to pick its candidate for the gubernatorial election.

Direct primary allows party members to vote for their preferred candidates at the ward level.

The governorship election in Kogi is scheduled to hold on November 11.