Labaran Maku: now APGA candidate for Nasarawa

Nigeria’s former minister of Information and a die-hard ideologue for President Goodluck Jonathan has been presented as the governorship candidate of The All Progressives Grand Allaince (APGA) in Nasarawa state, in central Nigeria.

Maku was presented on Saturday in Lafia, along with Mr Ibrahim Abu as his running mate, squelching rumours of his links with the Labour Party.

The election will take place on 28 February.

The Chairman of the party in the state, Chief John Amako, presented the duo to the party’s officials and supporters from the 13 local government areas of the state.

”By this pronouncement, all rumours making the rounds that Maku is not the governorship candidate of APGA in the state should be disregarded,” Amako said.

He said the APGA national headquarters and all the stakeholders of the party in the state had endorsed the decision to present Maku as governorship candidate.

Responding, Maku expressed gratitude to the party for the confidence reposed in him and his running mate, promising to ensure that the different ethnic groups in the state live in peace.

The former minister said he left the PDP because of the “ irregularities ’’ that characterised the party’s primaries in the state, adding that he opted out “to seek for justice.’’

He promised to transform the state to a model where every ethnic group would enjoy equal rights and opportunities.

Maku, however, called on the people to support the re-election of President Goodluck Jonathan in order to ensure the consolidation of the ongoing transformation agenda in the country.

He said the president had been able to tackle the various problems facing the country.

The former minister said that in spite of the current challenges in the country , the president had been able to boost the economy.