By Suzan Edeh, Bauchi
Former Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abdullahi Abubakar, SAN, has won the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial primary election, clearing his path to contest the 2027 governorship race.
The Gubernatorial Primary Election Committee, chaired by retired Assistant Inspector General of Police John Bassey Abang, officially declared the results early Saturday morning following Friday’s statewide voting.
Abubakar secured a decisive victory by polling 57,517 votes to defeat six rival aspirants.
He also announced that the immediate-past Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, scored 26,001 votes, while Nura Manu Soro polled 13,638 votes.
Other contestants include Bala Maijama’a A. Wunti polled 13,648 votes while Kabir Baba Ma’aji polled 8,157 votes.
Also in the race were Baba Abubakar Suleiman with 7,688 votes, and Yakubu Yakubu Abdullahi, who scored 7,181 votes.
While declaring the winner, John Basset Abang stated that, “M.A. Abubakar, having polled the highest number of votes cast, was duly returned as the winner of the APC governorship primary election in Bauchi State.”
The Committee Chairman also announced the results of the party’s State House of Assembly primaries, noting that the election was conducted earlier on Thursday, May 21.
M.A. Abubakar, having polled the highest number of votes cast, was duly returned as the winner of the APC governorship primary election in Bauchi State.
Abang added that the committee also finalized the results for the APC State House of Assembly primaries, which took place earlier on Thursday, May 21.
This victory positions Abubakar to seek a second non-consecutive term in office.
He previously served as Governor of Bauchi State from 2015 to 2019, initially winning the seat by defeating the current Deputy Governor, Rt Hon Mohammed Auwal Jatau.
Abubakar later lost his 2019 re-election bid to the incumbent Governor, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The internal party vote followed days of friction within the state’s ruling party. In the buildup to Friday’s election, several aspirants publicly criticized the process, alleging systematic plots to exclude them from the ballot.
These grievances triggered peaceful street protests by aggrieved party supporters.At the time of this report, none of the six defeated aspirants have released official statements reacting to the final numbers declared by the committee
