Preparations by political parties are in full swing as they get set to conduct primaries for the selection of candidates for the November 16 Governorship elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States. According to the timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), political party primaries are expected to hold between 18th August and 5th September 2019.
In Bayelsa State, among aspirants vying for the candidature of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are former Director General of the Niger Delta Development (NDDC), Timi Alaibe, Secretary to the State Government, Kemela Okara and Mr. Kenebi Okoko, a Bayelsa born businessman and philanthropist. In the opposition party, All Progressives Congress (APC), former Governor of the State, Timipre Sylva, former Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri and Engr. Preye Aganaba, an Abuja based businessman will be contesting the APC primaries.
In Kogi State, some aspirants who have declared interest to contest on the platform of the APC include current Governor of the State, Yahaya Bello, who will be vying for a second term in office and former Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Jibrin Usman. The opposition party in the State, PDP has Sen. Dino Melaye, who is representing Kogi West Senatorial District of the State and former Governor of the State, Capt. Idris Wada expressing interest to contest its primary election.
Following agitations that trailed the Kogi State chapter of the APC as to the voting method to be employed by the party for its primaries, the party has finally adopted indirect primaries as its preferred method to select its Flag-bearer for the upcoming gubernatorial election. APC National Publicity Secretary, Malam Issa-Onilu, confirmed this in a statement issued on Saturday, July 7 2019, after a meeting of the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party, its executives in the State and other stakeholders.
Governorship elections in both States are expected to hold on Saturday, Noveember 16, 2019.