Erstwhile Secretary to the Sokoto State Government (SSG), Mallam Sa’idu Umar, has emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate in the state.
In the same vein, the former Commissioner for Environment in the state, Sagir Bafarawa, who also took a shot at the position, will be the running mate of Umar.
Equally by consensus, the current Deputy Governor of the state, Manir Muhammad Dan Iya, has been allotted the choice of contesting for a senatorial position in the state.
In the exercise supervised by Dr Tom Zakari from the party’s national headquarters, Alhaji Umar polled 695 votes of the total 755 delegates.
Other aspirants for the gubernatorial slot who ceded their interests for Alhaji Umar were a former Deputy Governor in the state, Mukhtar Shagari and the current PDP chairman of the state, Bello Aliyu Goronyo.
Speaking at the occasion held at the International Conference Centre, Kasarawa, Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal thanked the delegates for a smooth conduct of the exercise right from state assembly, National assembly to the governorship primaries.
He commended the members and leaders of the PDP in the state for their patriotism and loyalty in all of the process, assuring that he would work assiduously in order to ensure that the party wins all the seats in the forthcoming general elections in 2023.
He also commended the officials that came from national headquarters of the PDP and staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who conducted and monitored the exercise respectively.
In his address, the Sokoto state PDP chairman, Alhaji Bello Aliyu Goronyo, thanked the governor for giving all the necessary support and cooperation to the party.
While congratulating all the winners of primary elections in various seats of the party, he also thanked the party supporters for the cooperation towards the successful conduct of the exercise.
In his remarks, Umar thanked the governor and party supporters in the state for giving him the opportunity to be its representative in the 2023 general elections.
He also said Tambuwal has in the seven years of his administration laid the foundation for transformation of the state to the highest level, stressing that his emergence as the PDP candidate in the state shows the great leadership qualities of Tambuwal while demonstrating the unity among party members in the state.