Niger Guber Candidate Speaks On Merger With APC Ahead Of March 18 Polls

The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) candidate for the 2023 governorship election in Niger State, Hajiya Khadijat Abdullahi-Iya, has faulted viral reports claiming her party is in talks to merge with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

Khadijat’s rebuttal is coming amid reports that she had withdrawn from the governorship race.

Naija News understands she is the only female contestant out of the 17 candidates that will battle for votes in the March 18 gubernatorial election.

However, a reportedly viral post on social media and news platforms, not on Naija News, claimed that Khadijat and nine other political parties had collapsed their structures in support of the ruling APC.

Reacting, the politician said she had come too far to back down for whatsoever reasons. The governorship hopeful stressed that APGA was not part of the said 10 political parties joining forces with the APC.

“It is not true that I have withdrawn from the gubernatorial race or that we have collapsed our structure into the All Progressive Congress by ten political parties as claimed by the party. In fact, as a matter of fact, I want to categorically tell you that APGA is not among the 10 political parties if there is anything like that,” she noted in a publication on Monday.

Earlier, Khadijat said she decided to join the governorship race to give voice to women in Niger State and Nigeria in general, coming from a region and religion where women were hardly allowed to come out and make public pronouncements on their gender status.

Before her journey into politics, Khadijat has been an active voice in Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) championing the cause for good governance, Naija News understands.

She was unveiled as the running mate to Fela Durotoye, presidential candidate of the Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) in the 2019 general elections.