Two frontline presidential aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC), former head of state Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubakar were reduced to paper weights as their candidates lost in the gubernatorial primaries of the party in Kano and Adamawa respectively. Senator Mohammed Jibrilla Bindow seen as an outsider by many coming from nowhere to thrash Atiku candidate Alhaji Ibrahim Mijinyawa by 1,880 votes to 1183 votes to clinch the governorship ticket of the party.

APC supporters in the state according to our correspondent had been

praying fervently for an upset since most of them see Mijinyawa as a

man without the charisma of a leader and hoped that someone else picks

the ticket.

Even the entry of Chief Kobis Ari Timnu into the race did not change

anything as people saw him as trying to play the spoilers role for

Mijinyawa to emerge victorious.

In the end, the Katuka Adamawa Chief Kobis could only muster 85 votes

far behind the winner and the runner up Alhaji Mijinyawa.

Another contestant Mamman Tukur polled just 17 votes.

The event which took place at the Lamido Cinema Jimeta – Yola, saw the

crowd erupting in shouts of Sai Bindow, Sai Bindow.

In the end, the crowd left satisfied with some openly saying the era of

money is gone.

Alhaji Abubakar Yawe was the returning officer and he commended the

delegates for the mature way and manner they comported themselves.

The APC primaries held in Kano saw the candidate of Buhari, Brigadier General Jafaro Isa losing to the candidate of the Kano State Governor, Dr Abdulahi Umaru Ganduje.

Brigadier General Jafaro Isa [rtd] who had served as the military administrator of the old Kaduna State scored 126 votes while Dr. Abdulahi Umaru Ganduje who serves as the current deputy governor of Kano State scored 5588 votes.

There were four contestants for the gubernatorial ticket who had presented themselves for the contest. At the moment of casting votes, Both Hon. Abdulraman Kawo Usmaila and Alhaji Usuman Alhaji stepped down for Ganduje – giving their support to Ganduje. Hon. Usmaila presently serves as a lawmaker in the House of Representative and is believed to be Hon Tambuwal’s gubernatorial candidate while Alhaji Usman Alhaji had served in the Kwankwaso administration of 1999-2003. He was also the director general of the Orji Uzor Kalu presidential campaign.

In conceding defeat, Jafaro Isa stated that the battle was a family thing – that he accepts the defeat as a good sport. He pledged to support the deputy governor to win Kano gubernatorial race. Ganduje welcomed of the victory. He stated that his task as the APC gubernatorial candidate is to “collect the remaining chunk of PDP left in Kano” and add to his fold.