Demola Adeleke, the younger brother of late Sen. Isiaka Adeleke, who had hitherto been cleared to contest for the primary on the platform of APC, defected to the PDP on Tuesday evening.
Sen. Mudashiru Hussein, who was earlier disqualified but later cleared by the APC National Working Committee, would now contest the primary unopposed.
Adeleke would also contest the bye-election unopposed as the other aspirants on the platform of PDP all agreed to step down for him.
Both primaries had commenced, with APC and PDP delegates already at the venues of both primaries.
Recall that the Screening Committee of the APC headed by Zamfara House of Assembly Speaker, Sanusi Rikiji , had on Sunday disqualified Hussein for remaining in active public service against the stipulated party’s guideline.
According to Rikiji, the party’s guideline stipulates that any aspirant that wants to contest an elective office is expected to have resigned from public service 30 days before the primaries.
The disqualification was upheld by the Appeal Committee of the party headed by Abdulahi Bello.
Hussein, a two-term House of Representatives member and a one-term senator, took oath of allegiance as commissioner on May 30 and was given Cabinet Matters portfolio.
The former lawmaker, however, rejected the claim of the committee that he had not resigned, saying “I have resigned my position to contest again for the senatorial seat.”
The APC NWC in Abuja, however, cleared Hussein for the primary.
The primary was scheduled to hold on Monday but was shifted till Tuesday to enable the party’s NWC to study the Screening Committee’s report.
It was again shifted to Wednesday.
The Independent National Electoral Commission has fixed July 8 for the bye-election to fill the vacuum created by the death of Adeleke on April 23.
