Hamza Al-Mustapha, a former aide to the late Sani Abacha, has secured the presidential ticket of the Action Alliance (AA) to participate in the 2023 general election.
Al-Mustapha won the election with a total of 506 votes, defeating Samson Odupitan, his only opponent.
He was declared the party’s flagbearer at the AA presidential primary held on Thursday in Abuja.
According to NAN, two aspirants — Tunde Anifowose and Felix Osakwe — withdrew from the presidential race for Al-Mustapha.
A total of 972 delegates were expected to participate in the exercise, but 851 delegates were accredited and 721 votes were cast.
Speaking on his victory at the primary, Al-Mustapha thanked the party’s electoral committee for the successful conduct of the exercise.
“From all indications, this was a very transparent exercise and I commend other aspirants for their efforts to ensure that the party remains united,” he said.
“I also commend Mr Odupitan for contesting, because if everybody withdrew, there won’t be victory as we have seen today.
“I appreciate all party delegates, supporters, and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who have all defied the rain to witness this event.
“I promise that our votes cast today would not be in vain and I indulge us to please obtain a permanent voter card (PVC), because that is the surest way to be victorious come 2023 general election.”
On his part, Kenneth Udeze, AA national chairman, congratulated the presidential candidate and other aspirants for contesting, and called for synergy among all the aspirants to enable the party win at the 2023 election.
