TheCable

The bid of David Umaru, senator representing Niger east, for a fresh tenure suffered a setback on Thursday as he lost the APC ticket to contest the 2019 elections.

At the primary election which held in Minna, the state capital, Umaru lost to Sani Musa. While he polled 5,870 votes Musa secured 39,192 votes.

According to Saidu Akawu, chairman of the electoral committee, four other aspirants – Shuaibu Gwada, Umar Faruk, Usman Danjijo and Afiniki Dauda scored 2,653, 1,750, 206 and 146 votes respectively.

Akawu commended the party members for demonstrating “political maturity” in their conduct during the direct primary election, and also praised the aspirants for their patience.

In his speech, Jibril Imam, APC chairman in Niger, advised party members to mobilise voters toward victory in the secondary election next year.

“What we have started doing is a house-to-house campaign to sensitise members of the public on the need to obtain their permanent voters cards (PVCs), and use it to install leaders that would improve their living standards,” he said.

Umar Kurfi, senator representing Katsina central, had earlier lost his re-election ticket at the APC senatorial primary in the state.