APC clears 28 aspirants for Kogi governorship race

The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday cleared 28 governorship aspirants to contest the November 21 election in Kogi State. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed November 21 for the governorship poll in the state. The party also expressed optimism that it would win the upcoming governorship election and warned all aspirants and supporters to shun violence during the process.

While receiving the report of the committee which screened the party’s aspirants for the election at the party’s secretariat in Abuja, the party’s National Organising Secretary, Senator Osita Izunaso, said that the number of contestants was an indication that Kogi was for APC. He said that with three senatorial seats, six House of Representatives seats and 75 per cent contribution in the presidential election, it was no longer news that Kogi had become an APC state. Addressing the aspirants, who were at the secretariat for the clearance, Izunaso said: ”The committee went into details in the screening process and has cleared all 28 aspirants. You are required to sign an undertaking.

“It is not compulsory; it is optional but it is in your own interest. The situation where we have 28 aspirants is a good omen for our party; what it means is that people of Kogi State believe in our party. Kogi is APC and APC is Kogi. “And, I am glad to note that of all the 28 aspirants, the 28 of you have qualified. What it means is that within this number that we are seeing here, the next governor of Kogi State is here with us. “In the next couple of months, one of you here will be so addressed as ‘His Excellency, the governor of Kogi State’ and that is why we want you to be lawabiding and good members of APC. “We don’t want chaos or violence; it is a family affair.

You know our opponents, the 28 of you are not opponents, you are family members.” The gubernatorial aspirants signed undertaking to be of good conduct, with their supporters in the entire process of the primaries and election. They were also required to abide by the party’s constitution, the electoral guidelines and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

In his presentation earlier, the Chairman of the Screening Committee, Mr. Boss Mustapha, said that the committee cleared all 28 aspirants because they all met the requirements. According to him, the aspirants passed the screening with marks awarded individually by the committee members. The aspirants were later presented with the certificate of clearance. “There was an acid test and we are satisfied that the documents that were submitted by the 28 of you met the constitutional requirements as prescribed by law,” he said.