APC Disqualifies Shittu, Aisha Alhassan, Clears 166 Others

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has disqualified Minister of Communications Adebayo Shittu, and Minister of Women Affairs, Aisha Alhassan, from participating in Saturday’s governorship primaries of the party.

Although the screening committee did not state reasons for disqualifying Shittu from the Oyo governorship race, it was gathered that it might not be unconnected with his failure to partake in the one-year mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme.

For Alhassan, popularly known as ‘Mama Taraba’, her disqualification may be due to her involvement in the protracted tussle for the control of the party structure in Taraba.

In a statement issued Thursday night by the acting National Publicity Secretary, Yekini Nabene, the party said 166 governorship aspirants were prequalified to take part in this weekend’s primaries across the states.

Borno State top the list of APC governorship aspirants with 21 aspirants, followed by Taraba State with 12 aspirants.