Taraba State Governor, Dr. Agbu Kefas, on Friday, unveiled Zainab Abubakar Ibrahim as his running mate for the 2027 governorship election.
Dateline Nigeria reports that Zainab, the current North East Women Leader for the All Progressives Congress (APC), is a younger sister to late Jummai Alhassan (Mama Taraba).
Kefas made the announcement at the TY Danjuma House in Jalingo during a visit by the National Chairman of the APC, Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda, to celebrate his 58th birthday in the state.
The choice of Zainab as running mate to Kefas had been the subject of speculation in APC circles for weeks before the governor’s confirmation on Friday.
Welcoming guests at the event, Kefas pointed to Zainab and said: “I welcome you to this great birthday of our national chairman – the incoming deputy governor of Taraba State for the 2027 governorship election, Hajia Zainab Ibrahim. Thank you and welcome.”
The announcement drew cheers from party faithful who had anticipated the move.
The governor thanked Prof. Yilwatda for bringing a medical outreach team to Taraba as part of his birthday activities.
“Your team of ‘Doctors for Free Treatment and Surgeries’ have been on ground working for days. There are testimonies from the people of Taraba and we are so impressed, sir,” Kefas said. He added that Taraba was aligning fully with the APC to reciprocate President Bola Tinubu’s support for the state.
“What President Tinubu has done for the people of Taraba cannot be quantified. Mr. President has recently approved an Army Division for us. That alone is capable of stabilising the lives of our people.
“Here in Taraba, we in APC are not contesting elections with anybody. We only have people participating in elections with us. We have declared APC from top to bottom,” the governor stated.
In his address, Prof. Yilwatda said he chose to mark his 58th birthday in Taraba to demonstrate the party’s commitment to the people.
“I chose to celebrate my birthday here to provide medical support to the people of the state. Our party is not just a party that seeks votes. It is about justice, peace and unity,” he said.
