APC guber primaries: Alarm over fake membership cards in Bauchi; Masari, el-Rufai, Lalong, Bello emerge winners; faction announces Abe winner in Rivers

Governor Aminu Masari has emerged flag bearer of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Katsina State for the 2019 election.
Announcing the result on Sunday in Katsina, the Chairman, APC Gubernatorial Primary Election in the state, Dr Isa Adamu, said that the election was contested by three aspirants.
Adamu said that a total of 5,627 votes were cast during the primary election.
He said that Masari scored 5,562 votes to emerge winner during the election.
Adamu said that Alhaji Abubakar Ismail Funtua, got eight votes, while Alhaji Garba Dankane, had only one vote.
He said that 56 votes were invalid.
In his acceptance speech, Gov. Masari thanked the delegates for re-electing him as the party candidate for 2019 election.
He assured delegates that he would try to ensure unity among party members for the progress of APC.
Masari also urged those who lost in the contest to support the party candidates so as to ensure its victory in 2019 general elections.
A total of 2447 APC delegates on Sunday endorsed the candidature of Governor Nasiru El-Rufai to contest the 2015 governorship election in Kaduna State.
The Committee Chairman for the All Progressive Congress (APC) gubernatorial primary in the state, Mr Mathew Iduoriyekemwen, said while announcing the result in Kaduna that, 33 votes were declared invalid.
According to the Chairman, 3,782 delegates across the 23 Local Government Areas of the state participated in the election.
He was however silent on whether the remaining 1302 delegates voted against El-Rufai, who was the sole contestant during the primary.
Iduoriyekemwen appreciated the conduct of the delegates during the primary election.
In his acceptance speech, El-Rufai described the endorsement as a “vote of confidence to continue the work of delivering progressive outcomes for our people.”
He added: “I welcome the nomination; it is a call to vigorously continue the path outlined in the Restoration Programme, and we are committed to create for ordinary people, platforms for human capital development.”
He called for unity among all APC members to ensure massive victory in the general elections.
APC delegates in Plateau State affirmed Governor Simon Lalong as the party’s flag bearer.
The delegates who unanimously affirmed Lalong as the party’s sole candidate, said he had done well and should be allowed to continue the good works he had started in the state.
Mr Joshua Madaki, the Speaker of the House of Assembly, who moved the motion for the endorsement, added that the governor deserved a second chance.
The motion was seconded by Mrs Paulen Tallen, a one-time deputy governor of the state.
Speaking after the exercise ,Lalong appreciated the delegates for the confidence reposed in him, adding that he would initiate and promote programmes that would improve the quality of life of the people of the state.
Mr. Latep Dabang, the state’s APC chairman,commended the delegates for conducting themselves peaceful during the exercise .
Dabang maintained that Lalong had done well enough to be affirmed and urged the people of the state  to vote for the party come 2019 to enable it to consolidate it’s achievements.
In Niger State, Governor Abubakar Bello was endorsed as the party’s flag bearer.
Members of the party from the 274 wards trooped out in their number to affirm Bello as the party’s flag bearer.
Bello, thereafter, expressed appreciation to party members for the confidence reposed in him by returning him unopposed.
“It is appealing when your people have confidence in you, when they support you, when they overwhelming endorse you.
“In politics this is what is needed and I really appreciate this gesture.
“Their action has continued to humble me and I am compelled to do more in the years ahead. By 2019 our administration will continue the good works we had started,’’ he said.
Bello assured party faithful and people of the state of his resolve to be more committed to the actualization of the restoration agenda of his administration.
“No doubt, there have been challenges in the years past but we had tried to accomplish some vital aspects of our set goals.
“We may have not been able to cover all sectors, this time we are determined to cover more grounds when APC is returned in 2019,’’ the governor said.
Meanwhile, some APC members in Bauchi State, on Sunday, raised alarm over alleged use of ‘fake’ membership cards in the party primaries.
The members raised the alarm at Hardo Daniya polling unit in Bauchi metropolis, after forming a queue and were about to commence voting.
Danjuma Kabiru, one of the agitating members who spoke with newsmen, said there were lots of people with fake party membership cards.
 
“Many people here have fake membership cards and most of them were saying that they were just issued the cards this morning.
“We were told that every membership card would be verified before the election commences but now,they are not verifying anything. This is totally unfair,” he lamented.
When asked how to identify fake membership card from original, Kabiru said, the difference was clear.
“To identify fake from original, the APC logo on the fake cards would not come out clearly and the numbers written on the original is completely different from the fake,” said Kabiru.
Also lamenting, another member, who gave his name as simply ‘Yinusa’, said he was shocked when he saw some members with new fake membership cards.
“I was so surprised when I saw some people with newly issued fake membership cards.
“Look at mine, this is what we were given in 2014 and they told us this is the real one.
“All of a sudden, some members were just given new ones today, in which the party logo is blurry,” he explained.
The APC Party Ward chairman of the polling unit, Mr Musa Liman, said the allegation was not true.
“As the party chairman of Hardo daniyan polling unit, I am telling you that the allegation is not true.
“There has been due process in verifying membership cards before members would be allowed to enter and vote.
“I have never seen anybody with fake membership card; all cards here are genuine and no fake ones have been seen or discovered by the security personnel,” he insisted.
It would be recalled that the state chairman of APC, Alhaji Uba Nana, was the first person to raise such alarm on Saturday.
He had said that there were reports of fake APC membership cards in circulation in the state and had warned that any person caught with such cards would be penalised.
In Rivers State, Senator Magnus Abe was declared winner of the direct primary conducted by a faction of the party.
The result was announced by Dr Sam Eligwe, the Returning Officer for the faction at the  secretariat controlled by the faction in Port Harcourt.
According to Eligwe,  Abe won with 144,929 votes..
Chief  Dumo Lulu-Briggs, who polled 3,444 votes, came a distant second while Dr. Dawari George scored 1606 and Dr Tonye Cole got 882 votes in the results announced.