Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara on Thursday emerged winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in the state.

Mr Matawalle was returned unopposed.

The 735 delegates that participated in the election were all accredited.

They were drawn from the 147 political wards of 14 local government areas of the state.

Mr Matawalle’s emergence would give him the opportunity to contest for the second term as governor of the state in the 2023 general elections.

Declaring Mr Matawalle as the winner, Chairman, Committee for Governorship Primary Elections in the state, Babagana Tijjani-Banki, said out of 735 delegates, 733 votes were validly cast.

Mr Tijjani-Banki commended the delegates for showing maturity and good conduct during the election.

“Based on the power vested on me as Chairman of the APC governorship primary election in the state, I am happy to declare Bello Matawalle winner of the APC governorship candidate for the 2023 general elections,” he said.

In his acceptance speech, Mr Matawalle described his election as peaceful and historic.

“I wish to express my gratitude to Almighty Allah for attending and completing this exercise.

“I commend our delegates and all stakeholders of the party for the successful primary election,” Mr Matawalle said.

He called on the delegates of the party to participate actively in all National Assembly primaries scheduled to hold on Saturday and Sunday.

Mr Matawalle promised to continue to provide meaningful development in the state if re-elected for the second term.

According to him, the secret of political party’s success is based on unity, peace and stability, saying the recent reconciliation of the party members also played a major role.

“I commend the former governors, Mahmud Shinkafi and Abdul’aziz Yari, Sen Kabiru Marafa and other stakeholders’ for their support and cooperation.

“There is unity peace and stability in the party,” he said

The primary election was monitored by the official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) led by Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state Professor Sa’idu Babura.

NAN