I Anointed Gubio As My Successor, Not Endorse – Zulum

Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum, has anointed his immediate past Commissioner for Works and Housing, Mustapha Gubio, as a governorship aspirant ahead of the 2027 election.

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The governor’s Special Adviser on Media, Dauda Illiya, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement, titled “Zulum anoints, not endorses Gubio as his successor,” said the governor only anointed Gubio during a political engagement in Abuja.

Illiya explained that the governor’s action was part of a routine political tradition of receiving aspirants and offering prayers for them.

He said, “Receiving contestants is a routine tradition of responsible leaders to bless and offer prayers for success in democratic dispensation.”

According to him, Zulum, as the leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Borno State, also received other aspirants who had presented their nomination forms.

He said the governor received aspirants seeking the Borno North Senatorial and House of Representatives seats.

Illiya added, “Governor Zulum… not only received Engr. Gubio, who has indicated interest in vying for the governorship seat and was the first to obtain the nomination and expression of interest forms, but also received contestants for Borno North Senatorial seat, Senator Mohammed Tahir Monguno, and House of Representatives member for Monguno/Nganzai/Marte Federal Constituency, Hon. Bukar Talba, among others.”

A lecturer of Political Science at the Federal University, Gashua, Lawan Cheri, said endorsement and anointment were not exactly the same, although they often overlap.

Cheri said, “An endorsement is a public declaration of support. It is usually based on a rational or strategic calculation, alignment of values, policy agreement, or party loyalty.”

He added that anointment was often influenced by the personal authority or feelings of the person giving it.

“While anointment has the influence of the anointer’s deep personal feelings, implying that the aspirant so anointed was chosen by a higher power, a singular supreme leader,” he explained.