FORMER Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and former Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) executive, Bala Wunti, have failed to secure the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket for the 2027 election in Bauchi State.

The party’s primary election, which was delayed for several hours before the final announcement, ended with former Bauchi State Governor, Mohammed Abubakar, emerging as the APC flag bearer after defeating six other aspirants.

The results were announced in the early hours of Saturday by the Chairman of the APC Governorship and House of Assembly Primaries Committee for Bauchi State, John Abang, a retired assistant inspector general of police.

Abang said Abubakar polled 57,517 votes to win the contest, while Tuggar came second with 26,001 votes.

Another aspirant, Nura Soro, secured 13,638 votes, while Wunti garnered 13,648 votes in the exercise.

Other contestants included Kabir Baba Ma’aji, who got 8,157 votes, Baba Abubakar Suleiman with 7,688 votes, and Yakubu Abdullahi, who polled 7,181 votes.

The victory marks a fresh return for Abubakar, who lost his re-election bid in 2019 to the incumbent governor, Bala Mohammed of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Mohammed had defeated Abubakar during the 2019 governorship election when the former governor was seeking a second term under the APC platform.

THE ICIR reported that Tuggar was among the earliest members of President Bola Tinubu’s cabinet to resign following the directive that political appointees interested in contesting elective offices in 2027 must step down from their positions before March 31, 2027.

The Bauchi APC governorship primary was characterised by a prolonged wait before the final declaration of results, but eventually produced Abubakar as the party’s candidate for the 2027 governorship election.