The Governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, has said that the All Progressives Congress (APC) is committed to conducting free, fair, and transparent primary elections if consensus candidates fail to emerge.
This was made known in a statement signed by Alhaji Mamman Mohammed, the governor’s director-general of press and media affairs, in Damaturu on Sunday.
Six APC governorship aspirants in the state have rejected Alhaji Baba Wali, the endorsed candidate by the party’s critical stakeholders, and demanded a credible direct primary election.
The aspirants are: Senator Ibrahim Bomoi of Yobe South, Alhaji Bashir Machina, Mr Kashim Musa-Tumsah, Mr Mustapha Maihaja, Alhaji Lawan Kolo, and Rtd. Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Baba.
Mr Buni said the party had not foreclosed the direct election mode for producing its candidates for the contestable offices in the 2027 general election.
“The emergence of Baba Mallam Wali as the preferred candidate of the party followed the resolutions of the critical stakeholders meeting of the 23rd April 2026.
“He was endorsed and adopted as the preferred candidate, but if there is no general agreement, we shall adopt the election mode.
“This is not new. In 2019, l was nominated as a consensus candidate, a few other aspirants contested the decision, and we went for an election where l emerged as the party’s candidate with a very wide margin. We are ready to repeat that history if we cannot reach consensus,” he said.
The governor, however, said the party was still reaching out to the aggrieved aspirants and other stakeholders to arrive at an amicable resolution through dialogue.
“l will be the happiest person to see the state and party peaceful and united; we remain citizens of Yobe state and members of APC. My expectation is to see us more united and collectively working for our candidates to win the 2027 general election.
“As a founding member, former Secretary and National chairman of the All Progressives Congress, the unity and progress of the party means so much to me personally. I will continue to support and protect the ideals of the party to remain Nigeria’s ruling political party,” Mr Buni said.
The governor expressed optimism that all aspirants in the state seeking public office were driven by a desire to serve the people and improve their lives.
According to him, Yobe is proudly a leading example of political transparency, internal and participatory democracy. We shall continue to uphold these principles to promote the policy of politics without bitterness.
“I am proud to say we are all into this decision together with the critical Stakeholders to agree and support the party in the state, after all, we are all working for the good of the state.”
Mr Buni assured that the party would give everyone a sense of belonging and would continue to support whoever emerged as its APC candidate to win the presidential, governorship, and all the national and state assembly seats in the state.
“I call on all APC members in the state to promote unity and generate more support for the party to remain Yobe and Nigeria’s ruling political party to deliver the state to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s second term bid and all other candidates of the APC,” the governor emphasised.
(NAN)
