Former Governor of Kogi, Yahaya Bello, has emerged winner of the All Progressives Congress primary election for the Kogi Central Senatorial District.
Hikaya Newspaper reports that the result was announced on Monday by the Returning Officer, Dr. Sadiq Mohammed.
According to the results, Bello scored 72,349 votes to defeat Ibrahim Yakubu Adoke, who polled 315 votes, and Momoh Yusuf Obaro, who got 188 votes. Breakdown of the votes showed that Bello recorded 18,341 votes in Adavi, 10,298 in Ajaokuta, 5,146 in Ogori, 8,943 in Okehi, and 29,621 votes in Okene Local Government Area.
Meanwhile, reports from Kogi West indicated that the incumbent senator, Sunday Karimi, was leading in the ongoing primary election after some major aspirants, including Senator Smart Adeyemi and Samuel Bamidele Aro, withdrew from the race before the end of the exercise.
In Kogi East, the incumbent senator, Jibrin Isah Echocho, was reportedly trailing behind his rival, Dr. Joe Erico Ameh, based on results released so far. Echocho reportedly scored two votes in his Dekina Local Government Area, while Dr. Joe Erico polled 19,805 votes. However, some contestants, including Muritala Ajaka and Jibrin Echocho, criticised the conduct of the primary election, saying the process did not follow acceptable party guidelines and procedures.