By Abubakar H. Muhammad (9News Nigeria, Northeast)
Governor Babagana Umara Zulum and APC consensus governorship candidate Engr. Mustapha Gubio returned to a mammoth crowd in Maiduguri on Friday, after a high-level meeting in Abuja where Vice President Kashim Shettima endorsed Gubio for the 2027 race.
Thousands of jubilant supporters trooped out to welcome the governor and his anointed successor, with the crowd stretching from Muhammadu Buhari International Airport to major roads leading into the metropolis.
Zulum’s entourage was returning from the nation’s capital where he formally presented Gubio to Vice President Shettima.
During the closed-door session, Shettima, a former Borno State governor, gave his support and officially endorsed Gubio as the All Progressives Congress consensus candidate for the 2027 governorship election.
Addressing supporters at the Government House, Zulum described the homecoming as “a testament to Borno’s unbroken unity and political maturity.”
The governor had unveiled Gubio as his preferred successor on Monday after purchasing the party’s Nomination and Expression of Interest forms under the APC platform.
He noted that the choice was to sustain the momentum of developmental service delivery by his administration since 2019.
On Zulum’s entourage were Deputy Governor Umar Usman Kadafur, APC Deputy National Chairman Ali Bukar Dalori, former Governor Maina Ma’aji Lawan, Senators Mohammed Tahir Monguno, Mohammed Ali Ndume and Kaka Shehu Lawan, SAN, and Minister of Agriculture Abubakar Kyari.
Also in the delegation were the Speaker of the Borno State House of Assembly, Abdulkarim Lawan, some members of the National Assembly, and party stakeholders.
