The Independent National Electoral Commission confirmed Yahaya Bello as the All Progressives Congress candidate for Kogi Central, releasing the final list of cleared candidates for the January 2027 National Assembly elections.
The document, signed by INEC Secretary Rose Oriaran-Anthony, lists a total of 42 candidates across Kogi Central, Kogi East, and Kogi West senatorial districts, capturing each candidate’s name, party, age, gender, and qualifications.
Bello is 51. He won the APC primary for Kogi Central by polling 72,399 votes across the five local government areas of the district, against 319 votes for his closest rival, Ibrahim Yakubu Adoke, and 188 votes for Momoh Yusuf Obaro. The scale of his primary victory, with his vote total dwarfing those of his rivals by a margin of more than two hundred to one, underscored the extent of his control over the party structure in the district heading into the general election.
His emergence as the APC candidate followed a turbulent build-up, with a pressure group, the Kogi APC Renaissance Forum, warning months earlier that fielding him would cost the party the seat, citing what it called his weak grassroots acceptance even within his home constituency.
Speculation also trailed his screening, with reports suggesting complications that could have kept him out of the race entirely, before the party’s screening committee eventually cleared him alongside other aspirants from the three senatorial districts.
Ten other candidates are on the Kogi Central ballot. Among them are Suzan Jagbadi of the Accord, Muhammad Jatto of the African Action Congress, Babalawale Habib of the Action Peoples Party, and Ogembe Salau Ahmed of the African Democratic Congress.
Also listed are Muhammed Aminu of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Suleiman Isah of the Allied Peoples Movement, Salau Muritala Audu of the National Democratic Coalition, Onuja Umar Sunday of the Peoples Redemption Party, and Bashir Yusuf of the Social Democratic Party.
The race that has drawn the most attention, however, is the direct contest between Bello and the sitting senator. Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, the incumbent, is seeking re-election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party. The list records her qualifications as a First School Leaving Certificate, Senior School Certificate, and Bachelor of Laws. Bello’s qualifications are also documented in the INEC list, which records the educational credentials of all 42 candidates across the three districts as part of the commission’s standard disclosure requirements.
Both Bello and Akpoti-Uduaghan have had a running conflict dating back to when she first indicated interest in the senatorial seat while Bello was still governor, with allegations that he sought to eliminate her politically, allegations the former governor has denied.
In December 2025, during a visit to the palace of the Ohinoyi of Ebiraland, Bello publicly announced his intention to contest the seat.
“I accept to run for the Senate in 2027,” he told the gathering.
For Kogi East, 17 candidates are on the list, including Ameh Erico Joseph of the APC, Ochija Berikisu of the Democracy for the Liberation of Africa, and Muhammed Abdullahi of the PDP.
Kogi West has 14 candidates in contention, led by Karimi Sunday of the APC, Musa Ibrahim Ahmadu of the ADC, and Yusuf Ayo Tajudeen of the PDP. The three-district list covers candidates aged between 36 and 73 years.
The document lists no candidate as living with a disability across all three districts, with the PWD column uniformly marked “None” for every candidate on the list.
The Kogi Central contest now sets up one of the most closely watched senatorial races ahead of the January 2027 elections, with Bello’s eligibility questions resolved and Akpoti-Uduaghan positioned as his principal opponent in a district where both figures carry significant political weight and name recognition that extends well beyond Kogi State.
