APC Aspirants in Last Minute Rush Beat Tuesday Deadline

• Ambode, Ex-IG, Abba, Upan Odey Jnr. pick form
Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja
The National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Abuja was a beehive of activities yesterday as many aspirants of the party besieged the place to either purchase nomination forms or submit completed ones.

Going by the APC’s extended deadline for the sales and submission of nomination forms, the exercise will end next Wednesday.
One of notable aspirants that came to purchase nomination forms yesterday was the Lagos state Governor, Akinwumi Ambode.

Ambode arrived at the party secretariat at about noon and went straight to the office of the National Organising Secretary to pick his nomination form.
Journalists anxious to hear from the governor about his reelection bid got disappointed when Ambode left the secretariat without uttering a word.

Other governorship aspirants who have picked their forms were Attom Magira from Borno State; Zamfara Deputy Governor, Ibrahim Mohammed, and Mr. John Upan Odey Jnr who is contesting for the APC governorship ticket for Cross River State.

Addressing journalists shortly after picking his form, Odey who hails from Obudu Local Government Area of Cross River State, said he would prioritise the relaunch of the Obudu Cattle Ranch to make it a major revenue earner.
Attom said he is in the race to salvage Borno State from the crisis on insecurity, instability and poverty.

On his part, a former federal Permanent Secretary and governorship aspirant from Nasarawa State, Dauda Kigbo, who spoke to journalists after obtaining his nomination form, said insecurity in the country is due to the failure of intelligence.

He advocated the use of traditional practice in peace building.

Kigbo who spoke with journalists after obtaining his nomination form, said the era when traditional rulers are not recognised in the affairs of their communities would be eliminated in Nasarawa State during his regime.

He said as a student of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) he was aware of several researches conducted by the institute on peace building.

He said: “We did a lot of studies in security, peace building and management. One of the things I will do and which I have recognised is that failure of intelligence is responsible for violence and crisis. What I will do is to apply technology and tradition as a process to solve the crises.”

Also yesterday, a former Inspector General of Police (IG), Suleiman Abba, joined the race for the Jigawa State Central senatorial district on the platform of the APC.

He said those currently campaigning for state police in Nigeria are not sincere.

Addressing journalists yesterday after he picked his nomination and Expression of Interest forms at the National Secretariat of the APC in Abuja, Abba said he was in the race to bring quality representation for his constituents and contribute meaningfully to national development, adding that the country was not ripe for the state police.