Bauchi APC Primaries: Ex-Gov Abubakar Defeats Yusuf Tuggar to Secure Gubernatorial Nomination

Former Governor Mohammed Abubakar has completed the first major step of his political comeback, securing a landslide victory in the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election to emerge as the party’s official governorship candidate for Bauchi State ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Abubakar, who steered the executive affairs of Bauchi State between 2015 and 2019 under the APC banner before losing a highly contested re-election bid to the incumbent Governor Bala Mohammed of the People's Democratic Party (PDP), successfully defeated a crowded field of six formidable aspirants.

The official results were declared in Bauchi by John Bassey-Abang, the Chairman of the APC Governorship and House of Assembly Primary Election Committee. According to the validated tally, Abubakar secured a commanding 57,517 votes from the party’s delegates, entirely distancing himself from his closest challenger, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, who managed to poll 26,001 votes.

The performance of the remaining five aspirants showed a deeply divided field behind the frontrunners. Bala Wunti secured the third position in the race by polling 13,648 votes narrowly edging out Nura Manu-Soro who finished close behind with 13,638 votes. The lower tier of the ballot saw Kabir Baba-Ma’aji secure 8,157 votes followed by Baba Suleiman with 7,688 votes while Yakubu Abdullahi completed the standings by gathering 7,181 votes.

The comprehensive victory provides Abubakar with the structural mandate to lead the APC's campaign to reclaim the state from the PDP. In his post-victory declarations, Bassey-Abang praised the internal democracy displayed throughout the sorting, counting and collation exercises, asserting that the transparent process provides a unified foundation for the opposition party as it prepares for the rigors of the main 2027 gubernatorial race.