Senator representing Adamawa Central in the National Assembly, Senator Aishatu Dahiru Ahmed Binani, has been declared the winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primaries held on Thursday.
Aishatu, the sole female aspirant, defeated other notable APC bigwigs, including the current Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on the Army, Honourable Abdulrazak Sa’ad Namdas, former EFCC boss Nuhu Ribadu, and former governor Umar Jibrilla Bindow.
Binani was declared the winner of the highly contested primary on Friday morning at Yola, the state capital, following the conclusion of vote counting.
Pulling a total of 440 votes, as announced by the Adamawa State chairman of APC, Ibrahim Bilal Binani, the only female governorship aspirant was declared the winner by the state party chairman, defeating five other male aspirants to clinch the tightly contested governorship ticket.
Binani defeated other contestants, namely, Wafarniyi Theman, Mustapha Umar, Jibrilla Bindow, Senator Abdulrazak Namdas, Otumba and Nuhu Ribadu, who also polled 21, 103, 94, 39 and 288 votes, respectively.
The Adamawa Central Senator had weeks ago debunked rumours that she had stepped down. The lawmaker clarified while addressing delegates and stakeholders of the party separately in the Ganye, Jada, Toungo and Mayo-Belwa local governments when she visited the areas within the week.
Following the development, Senator Aishatu Binani is set to slug it out with the incumbent governor of the state, Ahmadu Fintiri, who also recently emerged as the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) governorship candidate to contest the 2023 election for a second term of office.
If she eventually defeats the governor in the general gubernatorial polls, Senator Aishatu “Gimbiyar Adamawa”, as she is popularly called, will become the first elected female governor in the history of the country.
