Kebbi State Governor Nasir Idris has dropped his deputy, Umar Tafida, as his running mate for the 2027 governorship election over what the All Progressives Congress (APC) described as legal hurdles arising from litigation over their 2023 election.
But an aide to the deputy governor has disputed the party’s claim that Mr Tafida was consulted and consented to the decision, presenting a conflicting account of how the replacement was made.
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Mr Idris has selected Ibrahim Augie, a former commissioner for finance, as his new running mate.
The decision was announced on Sunday at the Presidential Lodge in Birnin Kebbi during a gathering of political and traditional stakeholders from the Argungu Emirate.
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The Kebbi State Government also announced the replacement on its official X account.
Suleiman Argungu, the APC National Organising Secretary, said party stakeholders reviewed the litigation that followed the 2023 governorship election and sought legal advice before deciding that Mr Idris should contest with a different running mate in 2027.
Mr Argungu said the party appraised the 2023 litigation involving the deputy governor and consulted relevant stakeholders following the cases from the election tribunal through the Court of Appeal to the Supreme Court.
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He said the legal advice received by the party was that another candidate should be chosen ahead of the election.
Mr Argungu sressed that Mr Tafida was not dropped because of incompetence but because of what he described as “legal hurdles” arising from the 2023 litigation.
He also claimed that the deputy governor had been briefed and had consented to Mr Augie replacing him on the ticket.
Deputy governor’s aide disputes consent claim
However, Yahaya Danjadda, senior special assistant to the deputy governor on New Media, disputed the claim that his principal was consulted.
According to a report by Channels Television, Mr Danjadda said in a Facebook post that nobody consulted Mr Tafida before Mr Augie was presented as Mr Idris’ new running mate.
He also disputed the suggestion that the deputy governor was aware of the meeting at which the decision was announced.
The conflicting accounts make it unclear whether Mr Tafida personally agreed to step aside from the governor’s 2027 ticket.
Mr Tafida remains the deputy governor of Kebbi State. The decision announced on Sunday relates to the 2027 governorship ticket and does not remove him from his current office.
What were the 2023 legal disputes?
The APC has not explained precisely what legal impediment arising from the concluded 2023 litigation could affect Mr Tafida’s eligibility to contest in 2027.
Following the 2023 governorship election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Aminu Bande, challenged the victory of Messrs Idris and Tafida.
Among the issues raised was an allegation that Mr Tafida presented a forged secondary school testimonial.
However, the Court of Appeal rejected the allegation in November 2023 while affirming Mr Idris’s election.
As PREMIUM TIMES reported at the time, the appellate court held that the allegation of forgery against the deputy governor could not be sustained.
The dispute subsequently reached the Supreme Court, which affirmed Mr Idris’ election on 19 January 2024.
Despite citing the litigation as the reason for replacing Mr Tafida, the APC has not identified the specific finding in the concluded cases that could prevent the deputy governor from contesting again.
Idris says no personal dispute
Mr Idris, meanwhile, said he had no personal disagreement with his deputy and described the replacement as a political decision.
The governor said he had accepted Mr Augie as his running mate and described the former commissioner as someone he had known for a long time.
Mr Augie served as commissioner for finance during the administration of former Governor Abubakar Bagudu.
Both Mr Augie and Mr Tafida are from the Argungu Emirate.
INEC nomination question
The timing of the announcement also raises questions about which running mate the APC had submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
INEC initially set 8 August as the deadline for political parties to submit their lists of governorship and state House of Assembly candidates but subsequently extended the deadline to 11 August.
The commission said the extension followed requests from political parties for additional time to complete uploads to its nomination portal.
The announcement of Mr Augie as Mr Idris’s running mate came on 16 August, five days after the extended submission deadline.
However, the announcement after the submission deadline does not, by itself, mean the change violates electoral law because the law provides circumstances and timelines within which candidates may be withdrawn and substituted.
As of Sunday night, PREMIUM TIMES could not independently establish whether the APC submitted Mr Tafida or Mr Augie to INEC as Mr Idris’ running mate before the 11 August deadline.
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