Nigeria’s governing party, the All Progressives Congress, APC has commenced screening of aspirants contesting for the Kogi State Governorship primaries in Abuja.
The party has scheduled the primary election for April 10, for aspirants who will pass the screening exercise.
One of the aspirants, Dr Sanusi Ohiare, who spoke to journalists after his screening said he would transform Kogi State into a logistics and industrial hub if elected as governor.
Dr Ohiare, a former Executive Director of the Rural Electrification Agency said he resigned his position at the agency to contest for the governorship seat.
Speaking on his experience at the screening, he said; the exercise went well. I resigned from my appointment as Executive Director at the Rural Electrification Agency (REA) on Feb. 17, 2023, to pick the forms to contest the governorship of my state.
“And running for governor is not a tea party, so it wasn’t a decision that I take lightly.
“I look out at the outcome and what it takes to offer myself to run and continue on the work that the current Governor Yahaya Bello is doing in the state. And I feel that this is the right time for me to go in and consolidate because different times require a different set of skills and leadership to make progress in the life of a country, community or state.”
Commending the Kogi Governor’s performance, Dr Ohiare said it was time for someone with his skills and experience to consolidate his achievements in the state.
He said; “I am not trying to downplay anybody’s efforts, but if you look at our profiles, the kind of leadership we need now is to move the state forward, you will know that none of them can come close to me.
“Kogi has certain advantages, for instance, the River Niger and River Benue, it used to be a trade zone, we have plans to work with the Nigerian Government and private sector to build an inland port.
“This inland port comes with a lot of other benefits and investments. We have a railway that runs between Itakpe and Warri.”
“We want to connect it to Abuja, effectively to Kaduna and Kano and build an airport, the idea is to make Kogi a logistics hub of the country.”
“Kogi can serve the Northern part of the country in terms of business and trade,” Dr Ohiare said.
Another aspirant, Senator Smart Adeyemi who was also screened, urged Governor Bello to be a detribalised leader and not limit his support to any aspirant.
Senator Adeyemi said “the call became necessary due to speculations in some quarters that the Governor was working towards ensuring that an “Ebira” man succeeded him.”
He explained that Okun West deserved to produce the state’s next governor because it had not produced a governor in the state since the inception of democracy.
Speaking on his plans for Kogi State, Senator Adeyemi explained that “he would employ a radical approach to galvanise the socio-economic development of the state.”
The Kogi governorship election is scheduled to hold on November 11, 2023.
Mercy Chukwudiebere
