Governors of restive Nigerian northeast Borno and Yobe states have been officially endorsed by party delegates in the All Progressive Party (APC) primaries conducted in the two states weekend amid heavy security.
Both Kashim Shettima of Borno and Ibrahim Gaidam (Yobe) are sole aspirants to the governorship seats of the troubled states on the platform of APC.
Loading ...Shettima was endorsed by a total of 4,520 delegates representing all the wards in the 27 local governments in the state at a primary held in a sport arena in Maiduguri, the capital weekend. Thousands of delegates have also affirmed the candidature of incumbent Gov Gaidam at a primaries held in the Damaturu Government House earlier on Friday.
Gaidam became the governor of Yobe State in January 27, 2009 following the death of the then Governor Mamman Bello Ali at a hospital in the US. He was later elected as the third civilian governor in the 2011 poll. He is seeking a renewal of mandate to rule the over 2.5 million Yobe people as permitted by the Nigerian constitution.
In Borno, Shettima became the governor in the 2011 poll on the platform of the All Nigerian Peoples Congress (ANPP), one of the opposition parties that dissolved into a coalition of parties registered as APC.
He along his Yobe counterpart will face other challengers from other political parties especially the leading Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which appears to be rooting to win the two states bedevilled by five years old Boko Haram insurgency.
