The Nasarawa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is having more problems after Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada was publicly supported as the best candidate to replace Governor Abdullahi Sule in the 2027 governorship race.
What was supposed to be a normal political alignment has instead led to a lot of anger and a cold war between important members of the ruling party before the 2027 general elections.
Remember that last Thursday, Governor Sule said that Wadada, the senator from Nasarawa West, was his top choice for the governorship election in 2027.
The governor said that the senator was the “Muje Maha” spirit that has guided his administration’s approach to governance and political openness.
“We need to find people who can win this election.” “Now that we all support it, if we really believe in the so-called Muje Maha, now is the time for Muje Maha to be Wadada,” Governor Sule said during the public endorsement.
Some high-ranking members of the ruling party in the state, on the other hand, did not like this because they think he made the decision too quickly without talking to everyone and following the law.
Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, a former governor and powerful party leader in the state, is at the head of the pushback. He has publicly criticized both the timing and the process of the endorsement.
He said that he was not asked for his opinion or taken along when Wadada was shown to Bola Ahmed Tinubu at the Presidential Villa.
“I was never asked. This is not normal. “Al-Makura said, “It is too soon for the party to even have released guidelines.”
He also said that the governor has a constitutional right to back a candidate, but due process and getting input from stakeholders must not be overlooked.
“We don’t have a problem with Wadada or any other candidate; we just want the process to go as planned,” he said.
But Governor Sule quickly denied the claims of wrongdoing, saying that his actions are in line with established political norms in the state.
The governor kept saying through his media aide that
“This is planned, careful leadership, not forcing.”
When the governor introduced Wadada to President Bola Tinubu, he said it was both right and important to keep the party’s national leader up to date.
Abubakar Adamu, a former Inspector General of Police and one of the top candidates for governor, has also said that the endorsement of Wadada did not mean an election. He promised to run for governor and beat the governor’s chosen candidate.
Adamu and others want to be governor on the APC platform, but the governor says that the governorship slot should be given to Nasarawa West, where Wadada is from, so that justice and fairness can be served.
Even though there is a lot of disagreement, the Majority Caucus of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, led by Speaker Danladi Jatau, has come out in support of Wadada.
“We fully support and back Senator Wadada as Governor Sule’s successor. We will stay loyal to the party and the governor’s decision,” it said.
The lawmakers also asked other candidates to support Wadada in the name of party unity.
In addition to the procedural disagreement, stakeholders are also questioning Wadada’s ability to lead.
Charles Agum, a political analyst, criticized the senator’s recent media appearance for not being deep enough and not focusing on issues.
“Instead of looking for solutions, he seemed more interested in attacking other candidates.” “That showed a worrying lack of readiness,” he said.
Some candidates felt left out by the early endorsement, and others are thinking about openly opposing it during the primaries.
Douglas Otaru, who used to be the Nasarawa APC Publicity Secretary, said that Governor Sule’s last-minute choice will be the end of the ruling party in Nasarawa State.
“I’ll say it again: I won’t stoop too low to criticize Governor Abdullahi Alhaji Sule,” he said. He has done well by his own standards, but the biggest mistake he made was letting the party run itself for so long.
“Sadly, some desperate people in the party took advantage of him and made him think everything was fine, ignoring voices of reason like mine.
“His bias, by putting his friend Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada as the best candidate, means he can’t run a fair primary. If he cares about his reputation, he should think about stepping aside to make room for free, fair, and credible primaries before the 2027 general elections.
In addition to questions about how the process works and who should be consulted, the controversy has brought up old arguments about zoning and power rotation in Nasarawa State.
Since democracy returned in 1999, the governorship seat has changed hands between the three senatorial districts.
But stakeholders say that Nasarawa South has had a long run, with leaders like Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, who served for eight years, and the late Aliyu Akwe Doma, who served for four years, bringing the total to twelve years.
Some politicians say that Nasarawa South should be allowed to “complete” what they call the last four years of Doma’s tenure cycle in order to keep things fair.
A group of religious, political, and indigenous groups is fighting this position, saying that fairness should go beyond senatorial zoning and include federal constituencies that haven’t yet elected a governor.
The group is very against the rise of a candidate from the Keffi axis, pointing out that Abdullahi Adamu, a former governor, came from the same group.
The coalition, led by Alhaji Ali Baba Nasarawa and Mallam Abdulrahman Sani Toto, said in a joint statement that the Nasarawa/Toto Federal Constituency is still the only one that hasn’t had a governor since the state was created.
“It is not fair to give the governorship ticket back to the same federal constituency.” The group said, “Equity demands inclusion.”
They also said that Governor Sule was going against the zoning principle he had previously supported, and they warned that this could make political divisions worse and lead to backlash in the elections.
The coalition also asked for a process that was more open and fair, saying that if candidates were seen as being forced on others, it could hurt party unity before the 2027 elections.
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