The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) held its governorship primaries on Wednesday across the country ahead of the 2023 general elections.
The exercise did not however hold in eight states where the cycle elections are held at different times. The states are, Anambra, Imo, Edo, Ondo, Bayelsa, Kogi, Imo and Osun.
The governorship primary did not also hold in Ebonyi State due to the lingering leadership crisis in the state chapter of the party which has frustrated efforts to conduct the delegate election across the wards.
However, a significant trend in the states where the exercise was held is that nearly all the candidates who emerged victorious in the primaries were candidates of the sitting governors.
Apart from Oyo and Adamawa States where the sitting governors are seeking re-election, the rest clinched the governorship tickets of the party on the strength and backing of their state governors.
Another constant is that there is no woman among the PDP candidates, continuing a trend of male dominance in Nigerian elections and governance.
Here are the brief profiles of the candidates that emerged after the exercise.
Enugu State – Peter Mbah
A former state commissioner for finance, Mr Mbah, who hails from Owo, in Nkanu East Local Government Area of the state, also served as the chief of staff under the administration of former governor Chimaroke Nnamani. The PDP candidate holds LL. B in Law from the University of East London and the same certificate in Maritime Law from Lagos State University.
Abia State – Eleazar Ikonne
He is a former Vice-Chancellor of Abia State University, Uturu. He also served as the Rector of Abia State Polytechnic between 2014 and 2015. He hails from Nsulu in Isiala Ngwa North Local Government of the state. The 65-year-old professor of Optometry was the state governor’s anointed candidate.
Lagos State – Oladije Adediran (aka Jandor)
Mr Adediran is a journalist and chairman and CEO of Core Media Group, a conglomerate consisting of other companies including CoreTVNews. The 44-year-old hails from Aworiland in Osolu and Elete Kingdoms of Ojo Local Government Area of the state. He defected to PDP from APC in January, this year.
Ogun State – (Two from parallel primaries) – Ladi Adebutu and Segun Sowuwmni
Ladi Adebutu
A businessman and politician, Mr Adebutu was elected, in 2015, as a member of the House of Representatives, to represent Remo, Shagamu and Ikenne constituency. At the age of 30, he won his seat in the National Assembly in 1992 to represent his constituency under the platform of the now-defunct Social Democratic Party.
Segun Sowuwmni
Mr Sowuwmni is a former spokesperson for former Vice President Atiku Abubakar. He has also served as the special assistant and deputy chief press secretary to the former governor, Gbenga Daniel.
Rivers State – Siminialayi Fubara
He is a former accountant-general of the state. His election came days after being declared wanted by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). Mr Fubara, who is wanted by the anti-graft agency over N435 billion fraud, hails from Opobo Nkoro Local Government Area of the state.
Kano State – Muhammad Abacha
He is the eldest surviving son of Nigeria’s former military dictator, Sani Abacha. Like his father, he has been linked to multiple financial scams.
Borno State – Mohammed Ali Jajari
Mr Jajari is a renowned entrepreneur and international businessman. He is a new face in politics, having not held a top political position in the past. He is a director of Pami Infrastructure Limited in Abuja. Mr Jajari holds a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from the University of Maiduguri, Borno State.
Adamawa State -Ahmadu Fintiri
Mr Fintiri is the current governor of Adamawa State. He was the only aspirant in the election. He was a member of the state house of assembly where he later served as the speaker. Governor Fintiri became the acting governor of the state following the impeachment of Murtala Nyako, the former governor, in July 2014. He would later win the governorship election in 2019 to begin his tenure as substantive governor, two months later.
Bauchi State – Ibrahim Kashim
He is the immediate past Secretary to the State Government. Mr Kashim was the only aspirant in the party’s primary election. Mr Kashim hails from Bauchi Local Government Area of the state. He is a former lecturer at Dan Fodio University, Sokoto State. In 2015, Mr Kashim, a legal practitioner, retired as a director of the Bureau for Public Enterprises in the presidency. Mr Kashim is, however, expected to withdraw from the race for his principal and incumbent Bauchi governor, Bala Mohammed.
Benue State – Titus Uba
He is the current Speaker of the Benue State House of Assembly. The 56-year-old, who became the speaker in 2018, represents Kyan Constituency in the state assembly. He hails from Akehe, Ute, in the Vandeikya Local Government Area of the state.
Nasarawa State – David Ombugadu
He is a former member of the House of Representatives between 2011 and 2019 – having served for two uninterrupted tenures. Mr Ombugadu, 44, was the PDP governorship candidate in the state in 2019, but lost in the general election.
Gombe State – Jibrin Dan-Barde
Mr Dan-Barde is a former Group Managing Director of SunTrust Bank. He is a businessman. In 2018, he contested in the APC governorship primary but lost to Inuwa Yahaya, who eventually won the general election to become the state governor. Mr Dan-Barde defected to the PDP, four years after.
Akwa-Ibom State – Umo Eno
Mr Eno is a former commissioner for lands and water resources in the state. He was the preferred candidate of the incumbent governor, Udom Emmanuel. The 58-year-old is a pastor of the All Nations Christian Ministry Int’l and a CEO of Visionary Group Limited. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in public administration from the University of Uyo.
Jigawa State – Mustapha Lamido
He is the son of the ex-governor of the state, Sule Lamido. In 2015, he and his father were arrested, tried and briefly jailed for money laundering by the EFCC. They were also accused of arranging for contracts to be placed by companies that they controlled. The PDP governorship candidate holds a Bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Abuja.
Oyo State – Seyi Makinde
He is the current governor of the state seeking re-election. The 54-year-old engineer was the Managing Director of Makon Group Limited, an oil and gas company in Nigeria. Before winning the governorship election in 2019, he lost twice in PDP (2014) and SDP (2015) primaries.
Delta State – Sheriff Oborevwori
Mr Oborevwori is the incumbent speaker of the state assembly. He represents Okpe constituency. He was elected speaker in May 2017, after the impeachment of the then speaker. He is the preferred candidate of Governor Ifeanyi Okowa. Mr Oborevwori, 59, hails from Osubi town in Okpe Local Government Area of the state. He holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in political science from Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma and Delta University, Abraka, respectively.
Sokoto State – Sa-aidu Umar
Mr Umar is the immediate former Secretary to the State Government (SSG). He had served as the commissioner for finance during Governor Aminu Tambuwal’s first tenure between 2015 and 2019, before being appointed SSG in 2019.
Kaduna State – Isa Ashiru
He is a former member of the House of Representatives. He represented the Makarfi/Kudan Federal constituency under PDP. He had defected to the APC in 2014 where he lost the party’s governorship primaries. In 2018, Mr Ashiru returned to the PDP and was the party’s governorship candidate in the 2019 general election in the state, but also lost the election.
Taraba State – Agbu Kefas
Mr Kefas is a former chairman of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency. He recently resigned as the state PDP chairman to contest for the ticket. Mr Kefas had contested for the same ticket in 2015.
Kwara State – Abdullahi Yaman
Mr Yaman is a businessman who was the campaign director of Governor Abdulrahman Abdulrazaq in Kwara North during the 2015 election. In March 2022, he dumped the APC for PDP to contest the governorship ticket. He hails from Shonga in Edu Local Government Area of the state. He had contested for the governorship seat in 2003 and also the Kwara North District on the platform of the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria in 2011.
Plateau State – Caleb Mutfwang
Mr Mutfwang is a former chairman of Mangu Local Government Area of the state. A legal practitioner, the PDP candidate was enrolled as Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1989.
Zamfara State – Dauda Lawal
He is a former Executive Director of First Bank, where he started his banking career as a relationship manager in 2003. He had contested for the governorship ticket of the APC in 2019. He joined the PDP in May 2022. Mr Lawal, 56, holds Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees in political science from Ahmadu Bello University.
Kebbi State – Aminu Bande
Mr Bande is a retired army general. He was the acting General Officer Commanding (GOC) of the 8 Division of the Nigerian Army. He announced his intention to contest for governorship in the state under the PDP in February 2022.
Yobe State – Shariff Abdullahi
Mr Abdullahi is a former senatorial candidate of the PDP under Yobe North District but lost to Ahmad Lawan (now President of the Senate) of the APC in the 2019 senatorial election. Mr Abdullahi had also served as chairman of a local government area in the state.
Niger State – Liman Isah Kantigi
He is a former commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs under the administration of former governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State. Mr Kantigi also served as Chairman of Edati Local Government Council in the state. During the time he held sway as the council chairman, he doubled as the chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) in Niger State. Mr Kantigi was recently linked to an ongoing case of money laundering, but he has vehemently denied involvement noting that EFCC, the anti-graft agency pressing the charges, can invite him for questioning.
READ ALSO: ANALYSIS: How aspirants stand in PDP presidential race
Katsina State – Garba Yakubu Lado
Mr Lado is a businessman who won the House of Representatives seat in 2003 before being elected a senator in 2007 to represent Katsina South District under the platform of PDP. The 61-year-old ex-lawmaker holds an advanced Diploma in Management and Finance from Kaduna State Polytechnic. Mr Lado, a former local government chairman in Katsina State, has been contesting to be governor of the state since 2011.
Cross River State – Sandy Onor
Mr Onor is a serving senator elected in 2019 to represent the Cross River Central District in the Nigerian Senate. He was born in Ikom, Ikom Local Government Area of the state. The 56-year-old lawmaker holds Bachelor’s and Doctorate degrees in History from the University of Calabar. He served as chairman of Etung Local Government Area of the state between 1999 and 2002, during which he doubled as the chairman of ALGON in Cross River State. He also served as the state commissioner for agriculture between 2010 and 2011 as well as commissioner for environment between 2012 and 2013.
WATCH: Governor Yahaya Bello’s Roadmap to Hope 2023
Support PREMIUM TIMES’ journalism of integrity and credibility
Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.
For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.
By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.
Donate
TEXT AD: Why women cheat: what every Nigerian man should know
0 Comments