Wada picks Kogi PDP ticket, to battle Yahaya Bello in November guber polls

From Ahmad Ibrahim, Lokoja

A younger brother of the former governor of Kogi State, Engr Musa Wada, has picked the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party, ahead of the coming November gubernatorial election.
The chairman of the electoral panel and governor of Adamawa State, Alhaji Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri returned Engr. Wada as winner of the party primaries, yesterday in Lokoja after a temporary setback that almost marred the entire process.
Unknown gunmen had stormed Lokoja Confluence Stadium, venue of the PDP governorship primaries at about 1.45 am on the wee hours of Wednesday, shooting sporadically into the air, thereby disrupting the process, when the ballot papers were being sorted out.
Peoples Daily gathered that one Abdullahi Loko Ibrahim lost his life while jumping through the fence of the stadium, so as to escape from the troubled spot.
Declaring the result yesterday, Governor Fintiri said Engr. Wada polled 748 votes to defeat his closest rival, Alhaji Abubakar Ibrahim Idis, who secured 710 votes.
Former governor of the state, Captain Idris Wada came third, with 345 votes, while Senator Dino Melaye came a distant fourth with 70 votes.
Others are Aminu Suleiman 55 votes, Victor Adoji 54 votes, Engr. Ameh Erico 42 votes, Air Vice Marshal Saliu Atawodi 11 votes, Mr Emmanuel Omebije 9 votes, Mohammed Shaibu 4 votes, Mr Bayo Michael 2 votes while Mr Kabiru Haruna secured no vote.
Governor Fintiri further disclosed that 2,600 delegates were expected to participate during the process, while 2, 388 delegated were accredited, even as 247 ballot papers were missing, following the ugly incident of the wee hours of Wednesday.
But when Abubakar Ibrahim Idris protested that majority of the missing votes could be his, Governor insisted that there was substantial compliance to warrant declaring Engr. Wada as the winner of the exercise.