The Nasarawa State Government has responded to criticism from former governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura over Governor Abdullahi Sule’s endorsement of Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada as his preferred governorship aspirant for the 2027 elections.
In a statement issued by Ali Abare, Senior Special Assistant on Media to the Governor, the government said, “With due respect for Senator Al-Makura’s person and his place in the history of this state, we are duty-bound to set the record straight.”
The statement stressed that Governor Sule acted within established political norms in the state and “has done absolutely nothing wrong.”
According to the government, “It is important to recall that the very process Senator Al-Makura now appears to criticise is the same process by which Governor Sule came to office. Senator Al-Makura himself, in an interview to mark his 70th birthday, disclosed for the first time why he opted for Engr. Sule as his successor over his close associates who had also indicated interest.”
The statement added that such decisions have long been part of the state’s political tradition: “He made that choice. He exercised that right as the then leader of the party. Nobody questioned him about it. Nobody told him it was too early. Even before him, former governor Senator Abdullahi Adamu picked the late Aliyu Akwe Doma as his preferred successor.”
The government explained that Sule’s decision followed a lengthy consultation process across the state, involving stakeholders from different sectors and all aspirants, noting: “This is not the conduct of someone who woke up one morning to impose a candidate. This is careful, deliberate leadership.”
It also added: “We also wish to remind the public of what Senator Al-Makura himself said at an earlier APC stakeholders meeting in Lafia. He assured that he was convinced Governor Sule would choose his successor in the best interest of the state, that Nasarawa South would support that decision, and he called the governor a gentleman who would do what is right. He urged the entire party to rally behind whoever Sule selected. Those were his own words.”
On the governor presenting Wadada to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the statement said: “Informing the national leader of the party about a major political development in one’s state is not only proper, it is the responsible thing to do. It would have been more questionable had Governor Sule not carried the president along.”
The government clarified that Wadada remains only a “preferred aspirant,” noting that party primaries will still determine the final candidate.
“The Governor has said clearly that he came in through free and fair primaries and will conduct the same,” the statement said while calling for unity within the All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2027 elections.
