The process leading to the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in Nasarawa State has been contentious, driven by divergent interests among the party’s three major power brokers: Governor Abdullahi Sule and his predecessors, Abdullahi Adamu and Tanko Al-Makura.

While Adamu led stakeholders from his Nasarawa West Senatorial District to request that Governor Sule rotate the 2027 APC governorship ticket to their zone, Al-Makura opposed the move, arguing that the contest should remain open to aspirants across all three senatorial districts.

Governor Sule aligned with Nasarawa West’s demand, pointing out that the zone has been out of the state’s top office for over 20 years.

He noted that every zone has had a turn since the state returned to civilian rule, beginning with Nasarawa West, and argued that rotation back to the district was essential for justice and equity.

Consequently, Governor Sule anointed the current APC candidate, Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, as his preferred choice.

During the early stages of this endorsement, ex-Governor Adamu neither clearly supported nor opposed the choice. Al-Makura, however, openly criticized the decision, describing Governor Sule’s presentation of Senator Wadada to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu as an “aberration” and “a little too hasty.”

Al-Makura asserted that party procedure was violated because the governor failed to consult him or other key stakeholders before presenting the preferred aspirant at the State House.

While acknowledging that Governor Sule holds a personal right to his preference and a single vote, Al-Makura censured the move to showcase Wadada at the Presidency before proper internal party processes were conducted.

Sources within the APC indicated that former Governor Adamu was initially hesitant about Wadada. Despite leading the agitation for power rotation to Nasarawa West, Adamu neither endorsed nor rejected Wadada’s candidacy when Wadada visited him at his residence in Keffi after securing the ticket.

However, during a recent stakeholders’ meeting at Government House, Lafia, Adamu declared his full support for Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada as the party’s 2027 governorship candidate.

Adamu insisted that power must shift to the Keffi (Nasarawa West) zone in the interest of equity and fairness, warning that any betrayal of or deviation from this goal would not be tolerated.

Prior to the primary, many of Al-Makura’s key allies and loyalists aligned with former Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar Adamu. After losing the APC ticket to Wadada, the former police chief defected to the Social Democratic Party (SDP), where he emerged as the party’s governorship flag-bearer.

The former IGP’s emergence on the SDP platform has triggered a wave of defections among members of Al-Makura’s political inner circle.

Most recently, Mohammed Musa Danazumi—the immediate past Executive Chairman of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB), whose public service career spanned various key roles across both the Al-Makura and Sule administrations—defected to the SDP.

Since Senator Wadada’s emergence as the APC flag-bearer, Al-Makura, who serves as the North-Central Coordinator of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, has not been seen campaigning for the APC governorship candidate. Instead, his public appearances have focused strictly on President Tinubu’s re-election campaign.

An insider in Al-Makura’s camp told Daily Trust that while the former governor has not explicitly instructed his supporters to vote against Wadada, his body language suggests a preference for the former IGP—an assertion that remains unverified directly by Al-Makura himself.

Governor Sule has maintained across several public forums that he retains the right to support his preferred successor, accusing Al-Makura of overstepping his bounds by trying to force an alternative choice.

The governor emphasized that while Al-Makura is entitled to his opinion, attempting to handpick a candidate for the state crosses a line. “I won’t bite the finger that fed me,” Sule said, while maintaining that he cannot be coerced into supporting a candidate against his better judgment.

Sule defended his endorsement of Senator Wadada by reiterating that keeping the governorship in the same zone as his predecessor would be unfair to Nasarawa West. He added that his choice was reached following consultations with key stakeholders, including briefings provided to both current and former presidents as a matter of leadership courtesy.

Conversely, Al-Makura’s supporters view Sule’s actions as a betrayal of the leader who single-handedly backed him for the governorship in 2019.

In response, Sule’s aides contend that the governor has paid his political dues through consistent loyalty and by actively involving Al-Makura in state governance.

A ruling party source noted that Al-Makura’s discomfort was further highlighted by his conspicuous absence from subsequent APC stakeholders’ meetings—including sessions where Senator Wadada sought to reconcile with aggrieved members. This absence has deepened speculation of an unresolved rift, with critics accusing the former governor of quietly undermining the party’s flag-bearer.

Expert warns on implication of crisis

A political analyst attributed the frosty relations among Governor Sule, Senator Adamu, and Senator Al-Makura to unresolved intra-party godfatherism and personal rivalries masked as debates over zoning compliance.

Dr. Chukwuma Okoli of the Department of Political Science at the Federal University of Lafia observed that the friction over the governorship ticket extends far beyond simple regional equity.

“The core reason for the rift is unresolved intra-APC godfatherism and personal rivalry masked as compliance with zoning,” Dr. Okoli stated.

He warned: “The implication is a fractured ruling party that risks losing Nasarawa State to the opposition through divided loyalty, anti-party voting, and post-election litigation heading into the 2027 general elections.”

Dr. Okoli added that given the evident lack of consensus among the three key party leaders, the electoral advantage traditionally enjoyed by the ruling APC is diminishing rapidly ahead of the polls. (Daily Trust)