Former Secretary to the Yobe State Government, Alhaji Baba Malam Wali, has bulldozed his way to victory in the governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress in Yobe State, leaving his challengers trailing in the dust.
The exercise, held in Damaturu on Friday, saw Wali sweep the polls with a landslide 236,711 votes, turning the contest into what many observers described as a political tsunami.
Announcing the outcome, the Minister of Housing and Urban Development and returning officer for the election, Muttaqha Darma, said Wali towered above the pack, while his closest rival, Dr Abubakar Kagu, managed to secure only 9,748 votes.
Other aspirants barely made a dent in the race. Bashir Machina polled 1,894 votes, Yunusa Mustapha scored 1,178, Hamidu Alhaji garnered 1,722, while Yunusa Mohammed and Maaji Modu recorded 1,148 and 1,372 votes respectively.
Declaring the winner, Darma said, “That Baba Malam Wali, having satisfied the requirements of the APC constitution and guidelines and scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner of the primary election and returned elected as the party’s governorship candidate for Yobe.”
With the dust of the primary settling, Wali, in his acceptance speech, extended gratitude to Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni, former governor and current Minister of Police Affairs Ibrahim Geidam, as well as the party hierarchy for what he described as overwhelming backing.
Stretching an olive branch to his defeated opponents, Wali urged them to close ranks with him for the sake of the state’s socioeconomic growth, insisting that the battle for the party ticket was over and the bigger war ahead remained the 2027 general elections.
He also pledged to sustain the developmental projects and programmes initiated by Buni and Geidam, whom he hailed as his political mentors.
Wali further assured the party leadership that he would leave no stone unturned in ensuring victory for all APC candidates in the 2027 polls.
