Odigie-Oyegun assures APC guber aspirants in Kogi of credible primaries

• Group disowns endorsement of a contender • Abatemi Usman hopeful of picking ticket

Ahead of the November 21 Kogi governorship poll, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Odigie-Oyegun yesterday assured all those aspiring to pick the ticket of the party of a free and fair primaries.

Speaking while inaugurating a seven-man panel charged with the task of screening twenty-seven persons that picked the N5. 5 million nomination and declaration of interest forms, he assured that the party would play by the rules during the exercise.

Meanwhile as the screening of the 25 contestants for the primary election of Kogi State All Progressives Congress, APC commences, one of the leading aspirants, Senator Nurudeen Abatemi-Usman, has reiterated his commitment and determination towards securing the ticket of the party.

Speaking through his media assistant, Michael Jegede, in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, Abatemi-Usman, said he was in the race as a serious contender to get the mandate of his party and the people to enable him bring the needed change that would take Kogi State out of the woods and lift it to a higher level of development.

In a related development, a political group known as Ebira Solidarity Front (ESF) has distanced the Central Senatorial District of the APC from the purported endorsement of Alhaji Yahaya Bello, as its sole candidate for the gubernatorial primary of the party.

The group in a statement that was signed by its president, Mr. Abdul Maliki Abdul and made available to journalists stated that the district has many contestants with the pedigrees and intimidating credentials who can hold their own in any contest.

Represented by the Deputy National Chairman South, Chief Segun Oni, he urged the Alhaji Bode Mustapha-led panelists to discharge their duties meticulously in the interest of both the party and the citizenry in Kogi State yearning for good governance.