Umar, who is currently a Federal Government Liaison Officer to the United Nations Commission in New York, was not present when his supporters stormed the National Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress to obtain the forms for him on Thursday.
The supporters who claimed to be representatives of about 168 wards from across Taraba State announced that they tasked one another and paid for the forms because they believed he had all it takes to develop the state.
Addressing newsmen shortly after obtaining the forms, the leader of the group who is a former federal lawmaker, Kabiru Jalo, said the state was in dire need of the kind of experience Umar posses.
He noted that Taraba state has suffered a lot of maladministration and there was the need for someone who has the know how to change things for the better ar.
According to Jalo, most delegates from the 168 wards of the state had deliberated on the choice of governorship candidate for the APC before finally settling for Umar.
He said, “We have done something in Taraba state that is unprecedented in the political history of the state. We wouldn’t let it go unnoticed because it is important to us, in trying to do what is right, in trying to deepening our democracy especially in Taraba state.
“We came under a political association in Taraba state that is known as New Taraba Agenda. Like I said earlier, we have done something that is unprecedented.
“We came together, brought in stakeholders from across the state and looked around independently, bringing in objective minds to look at the issues in Taraba state and determine what the way forward is.
“We brought in representatives from the 168 wards to come together and endorse a candidate that can move the state forward. So what we have done is a completely different approach to what we used to have. Our candidate is the candidate of the people, we came together and asked him to run, of course every politician will say that people asked him or her to run but in this case, we tried to make it real by bringing in the people to deliberate and search for a fit candidate.
“So, truly in our own case our candidate was pushed forward by the people and for the very first time we have a coalition which comprises of the 168 wards in all the local government with one person representing each of the wards to ask our principal to step forward to run for the office of the governor under the APC. Our principal accepted the call from the people to step forward and declared to run for the office, so we came here to pick the form for our principal.
Also, a former Minister of Culture and Tourism, Edem Duke was also at the APC secretariat to obtain his forms. He was accompanied by a large number of party supporters.
He told reporters he was in the race to win because he has what it takes to make Cross River State occupy its pride of place.
In a similar vein, an Imo State governorship aspirant, Chima Anozie expressed confidence that he would easily beat the son-in-law to Governor Rochas Okorocha because the people were now better informed.
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