Former Secretary to the Yobe State Government, Baba Malam Wali, has emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 general elections following a decisive victory in the party’s primaries.
Wali clinched the ticket after defeating other aspirants in the governorship primary held on Friday at the Banquet Hall of the Government House in Damaturu.
Announcing the outcome, Chairman of the APC Governorship Primary Election Committee, Muttaqah Darma, said the exercise was conducted in line with the party’s constitution and electoral guidelines.
“I therefore declare Baba Malam Wali, having satisfied the requirements of the APC constitution and guidelines and scored the highest number of votes, as the winner of the primary election and the party’s governorship candidate for Yobe State,” Darma stated.
According to the official results, Wali polled 236,711 votes, far ahead of his closest challenger, Dr Abubakar Kagu, who secured 9,748 votes.
Other aspirants trailed with significantly lower figures: Bashir Machina garnered 1,894 votes, Engr Mustapha Maihaja polled 1,178 votes, Hamidu Muhammad scored 1,722 votes, Inusa Muhammad recorded 1,148 votes, while Ma’aji Modu secured 1,371 votes.
Wali, an indigene of Nguru Local Government Area in Yobe North Senatorial District, had earlier emerged as the party’s consensus candidate after a stakeholders’ meeting convened by the Minister of Police Affairs, Ibrahim Geidam.
His emergence is expected to intensify calls for a power shift to Yobe North, the only senatorial district in the state yet to produce either a governor or deputy governor since its creation in 1991.
Born in 1958, Wali is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained both bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He began his public service career at the Chad Basin Development Authority before serving as a social mobilisation officer with the Mass Mobilisation for Self-Reliance, Social Justice and Economic Recovery (MAMSER).
He later rose through the civil service, serving as permanent secretary in several ministries before his appointment as Secretary to the State Government under former governors Ibrahim Geidam and Mai Mala Buni.
In March, the Progressive Governors Forum recognised him as the longest-serving Secretary to a State Government in Nigeria.
