By Muhammad Sidi Zagizagi

 

The APC in Nasarawa State today resembles a minefield waiting to explode. The ruling party in the state is enmeshed in what is, by all indications, an avoidable internal crisis.

At the centre of this conundrum is Governor Abdullahi A. Sule, the party’s leader in the state.

A few months earlier, the Governor made statements to the effect that he would choose, from an array of gubernatorial aspirants in the state, his preferred choice, as successor.

In several media engagements, he outlined the qualities he sought: A calm, experienced individual with broad appeal; a person capable of managing the state’s modest investments while inspiring confidence among investors; a leader with exposure, developmental vision and the capacity to surpass his own performance in office.

Many party members and citizens, though mildly suspicious, remained largely unperturbed. The Governor’s description painted the picture of a candidate they could embrace. Figures such as Dr. Faisal Shuaib, Professor Muhammad Sani Haruna, or Tanimu Adapson readily came to mind.

However, when it was time to unveil his Muje Maha, the Governor named Sen. Ahmed Wadada.

Sule’s choice has raised troubling questions.

How responsible is a politician who insults elder statesmen in the public with reckless abandon?

How calm is a man who, in a widely circulated video referred to the people of Nasarawa State in demeaning terms, calling them animals!

How can such an impulsive, temperamental character inspire investor confidence or ensure prudent management of public resources?

How can a man with zero respect for elders in the state have any regard for ordinary citizens?

How can the state be entrusted in the inexperienced hands of a man lacking in the basic principles of corporate governance?

Where is the general appeal in a man who shouts at everyone and publicly disgraces them without any prompting?

These concerns strike at the heart of leadership credibility.

It is puzzling that the Governor who claims to have consulted widely to arrive at Wadada forgot to engage with two former Governors of the state, both of whom are members of the APC and national stakeholders. Senator Dr. Abdullahi Adamu was not consulted, neither was the opinion of Senator Tanko Almakura sought in the matter.

The apparent exclusion of most traditional rulers in the state and other critical stakeholders across Nasarawa State further deepens the unilateralism in the Governor’s decision in choosing Sen. Wadada over many others, far more qualified and credible aspirants than Wadada.

This, clearly is an anomaly. One that the people of Nasarawa State should have seen coming, long ago.

There has been an unholy business alliance between Governor Sule and Wadada for sometime now. Wadada’s younger brother has been the consistent contractor in Sule’s administration, winning all the big contracts.

Wadada has always had an overwhelming decision and inputs in whoever Governor Sule appointed into positions in the government.

Only those who know this background of an underhanded relationship would understand why the best and most popular aspirants would be shoved aside in favour of Wadada.

A member of the State Working Committee of the party who spoke with me on condition of anonymity revealed that when the Governor announced his choice at a meeting with the aspirants, the aspirants requested that they be given a little time to discuss with their supporters on his decision and get back to him. The Governor agreed. However, they only realised that he had turned down their entreaties when they heard the Governor’s announcement, anointing Wadada and the rushed presentation of his so-called preferred choice of a successor before President Bola Ahmed Tinubu about twenty four hours after the ill-fated meeting with the aspirants.

This is viewed by many in the state as sheer insensitivity of the Governor!

There have been a lot of reactions from the elders of the party, the former Governors, the youth and women who constitute the strong support base of the party and a variety of other stakeholders, freely expressed across the state.

Even party executives at the State, Local Government and Ward levels are highly incensed and discontented with the Governor’s sole decision to impose a candidate without the requisite clout to win elections in the State, but their voices are muffled and out-muscled.

What remains to be seen is how the actions of many aggrieved party executives can be controlled when the chips are down.

The world is waiting to see how party members across the state, ignored and snubbed by the Governor, will work for the victory of the party in the general elections.

Wadada’s choice by the Governor has been associated with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive by a series of social media postings, coming from Senator Wadada’s media team. Wadada himself made an open allusion to the scandalous fact in a trending video.

Perhaps, the fact that no responsible authority from the office of the President has refuted the claims makes it dangerously more incredible, in the whole.

While the APC national has boldly made a statement that there are no automatic tickets for any office holders, especially newcomers into the party, Nasarawa State Governor is hell bent on rubbishing genuine, age-long party members to reward Wadada who just orchestrated a return to the party a few months ago. No one would be too dumb to believe this!

Even his claimed defection from SDP to the APC is still shrouded in controversies.

Just a few days ago the Senate still recognised him as SDP Senator without Wadada raising any objections and Wadada has continued to maintain his leadership of a committee in the Senate, reserved for the opposition.

The integrity of this individual is highly questionable. What a macabre dance of shame!

The fraud is made worse when the issue of double standard is looked at from a simple legal perspective.

Wadada purportedly joined APC in August, 2025 but also retained his membership of the SDP on the floor of the Nigerian Senate, up until yesterday, 23rd April, 2026 when he formally left SDP.

What this translates to is that Wadada was a member of two political parties at the same time for a whole nine months!

The electoral law clearly frowns at this. So, even if Sule succeeds in his planned manoeuvres at the primaries, which is certainly an uphill task,, the opposition will take advantage of the gaffe to snatch away victory from the APC with ease.

So, what sense is there to even reward newcomers while those who have sacrificed and patiently nursed, nurtured and sustained the party for years, are now left high and dry in spite of their eminent qualifications. This is the height of injustice!

There are accusations that the Sule administration has been holding nocturnal meetings on how to perfect the carefully crafted plan to exclude the aspirations of the indigenous groups, who are in the majority, as far as the population and electoral demographics of Nasarawa State are concerned.

The Governor’s choice of a successor from Keffi – Karu – Kokona Federal Constituency, snubbing Nasarawa – Toto Federal Constituency, the only constituency in the entire state yet to take the Governorship of the state, makes a caricature of Sule’s faith in sustaining the unwritten principle of rotating the Governorship of the state. It has also exposed his much talked about phobia for the locals, the cleansing agenda and a lack of honesty in the established principles of zoning.

By extending the Governorship slot to Keffi – Karu – Kokona Federal Constituency, the constituency which produced Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, the state’s first civilian governor (1999-2007), Governor Sule has deliberately planted a seed of discord among peace loving people. A clear, scandalous anomaly that the people of the State are not prepared to accept.

For not micro zoning the position of Governor to the Nasarawa – Toto Federal Constituency, the people of this zone are not willing to accept the illegal contraption!

Perhaps, the presidency can step in to make amends by refuting the claims regarding President Tinubu’s support for Wadada to the exclusion of the others, even before the primaries have been conducted.

Perhaps, the party at the national level can set foot in the State to resolve the brewing crisis, early in the day, to ensure balance and return justice to Nasarawa – Toto Federal Constituency that is being singled out and denied development projects and also the right to produce the next Governor in line with the rotational principles put in place since 1999.

If the APC wants to heal the cracks, every aspirant must receive assurances that the upcoming Direct Primary Elections in the state will be free, fair and transparent.

And because, the Chairman of the APC in the State, Dr. Aliyu Bello, a childhood friend of Wadada has demonstrated his bias over the last few years and continues to show a lack of objectivity in midwifing the primaries, he has eroded all the bases of trust to oversee any credible primary elections in the state.

He has already directed the party executives in the state as well as local government chairmen to do Sule’s will on Wadada.

The party at the national, if it is desirous of delivering justice to all, will have to undo the illegal knots the Governor and party Chairman have tied. Failure to do these would put the party in jeopardy and imminent danger of losing the state.

If the APC wants to avoid the explosion of the mines its men in the state have planted, something must be done, pretty fast or else, the party is at the brink of total collapse!

There is clearly a need for the local and international civil rights and observer groups to show more than a passing interest in the unfolding drama involving an exiting Governor, desperate to impose his successor on the people, to cover up his dirty tracks.

• Sidi Zagizagi is a public affairs commentator, based in Abuja