The governor said he has been consulting with elders, religious leaders and other key stakeholders.
He urged party loyalists them to remain focused.
He described Mr Ali as humble and accessible with deep experience in governance.
Mr Dakolo said the election contravened laid-down procedures.
The party pegged the nomination and expression-of-interest fees for governorship aspirants at N10 million and N5 million, respectively.
SDP recently announced that it had reserved a governorship election ticket for Mr Musa-Tumsah if he defected from the APC.
He attributed his resignation to a strained relationship with the party.
Mr Amaechi said the Muhammadu Buhari-led government was better than the Tinubu-led administration.
Such a move, Mr Keyamo said, could reverse the gains achieved by President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope reforms in the aviation sector.
Vernon Coaker, the UK’s deputy defence minister, has called on the British government to pay closer attention to Nigeria’s growing challenges.
