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Three former ministers who resigned from President Bola Tinubu‘s cabinet to pursue governorship tickets have suffered defeats in the All Progressives Congress primaries, leaving them empty-handed months after heeding the president’s directive.
On March 18, Tinubu ordered all political appointees seeking elective office to resign before participating in party primaries, in line with the Electoral Act. Several ministers complied, but while some secured tickets, others were not so lucky.
Adebayo Adelabu, former minister of power, stepped down to contest the governorship ticket in Oyo State. But Senator Sarafadeen Alli swept the primary with 578,143 votes, leaving Adelabu with a paltry 19,193 votes.
Adelabu had earlier dismissed claims that Alli was Tinubu’s preferred candidate.
“There was nothing like consensus arrangement. It was just a figment of their weird imagination,” he had said.
But after the landslide defeat, he rejected the result, alleging irregularities and intimidation.
He insisted that if the president were to back any aspirant, “it would be me.”
His resignation has since been filled by Joseph Tegbe, whom Tinubu nominated as the new minister of power.
In Gombe State, former transportation minister Saidu Alkali also resigned to chase the governorship ticket. But he lost to Jamilu Gwamna, widely seen as the chosen candidate of Governor Inuwa Yahaya.
Alkali boycotted the primary, crying foul over a lack of fairness and credibility. Even so, he finished behind another former minister, Isa Pantami, who scored 12,120 votes. Alkali managed only 11,612 votes.
Yusuf Tuggar, former foreign affairs minister, waited until the last minute, submitting his resignation on March 30, just a day before the deadline.
“Today, I formally submitted my resignation letter as Nigeria’s Minister of Foreign Affairs,” he wrote at the time.
But his bid for the Bauchi State governorship ticket ended in defeat. Former governor Mohammed Abubakar won with 57,517 votes, while Tuggar secured just 26,001 votes.
Tinubu has since replaced Tuggar with Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu as minister of foreign affairs, with Sola Enikanolaiye as minister of state.
