7th June, 2019
A retired army general, Major-General Patrick Ademu Akpa, has joined the governorship race in Kogi state and his supporters hope that he will snatch the All Progressives Congress governorship candidacy from incumbent Yahaya Bello.
The retired army general, from Kogi East, is the popular choice of disparate groups in the state, among which are Kogi State Young Professionals and other cultural groups.
The leader of Kogi State Young Professionals, Pastor John Desmond said: “Akpa is the leader the people of Kogi state need. Akpa is a detribalized person, a man that has helped many young people to grow in their professions.
“During his days in the military, he helped a lot of our people into the military service, he has assisted orphans, built hospitals, schools, and given many scholarships to students of Kogi state.
“In fact, if Kogi people want to enjoy better governance, the emergence of General Akpa is an opportunity for us to taste a better government again.”
According to supporters, Akpa has a profile that can intimidate Governor Bello.
A short profile shared by one of his supporters on Facebook read: “Major General Patrick Ademu Akpa hails from Ojibogo in Okenyi, Udama district Ankpa Local Government area of Kogi State.
“He attended Primary Schools in many places – Okenyi, Ankpa and Idah before gaining admission to the Nigerian Military School (NMS) Zaria in 1966 for his secondary education.
“He finished from NMS in 1970 and was posted to the Artillery in Kaduna. His posting to the unit was short lived as he gained admission into the prestigious Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA).
“He trained at the Academy from 4 January 1971 to 23 June 1973 when he was commissioned into the Nigerian Army and posted to the Corps of Engineers. The NDA experience inculcated a high sense of patriotism with strong will to sacrifice for his country”.
In later years, Akpa became the commandant of Nigeria Defence Academy, corps commander of the prestigious army engineers and held many directorate post at the army and defence headquarters including chief of army policy and planning and director of training and operations at defence headquarters.
After he retired from military service, he undertook a study on mortgage in the United Kingdom, where he was trained on mortgage and properties development, which he is currently practicing in Abuja.
Akpa is an Alumnus of National Institute of Strategic Studies, Jos and member of Nigeria Institute of Quantity Surveyors.
He is regarded as an elder of the APC in Kogi state and he actively campaigned for the party’s candidates during the last elections.
He was a also a member of the APC campaign council in Kogi state and in the reconciliation committee after the governorship primaries of the APC.
The Kogi election will hold in November 2019..
