Senator Ahmed Wadada, representing Nasarawa West Senatorial District, has won the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election in Nasarawa State, polling 195,285 votes to defeat six other aspirants.
The Chairman of the Nasarawa State Governorship Primary Election Committee, Professor Theodore Bala Maiyaki, SAN, declared the result on Friday night in Lafia after the exercise conducted across the state’s 147 electoral wards.
Announcing the results, Prof. Maiyaki said Wadada scored 195,285 votes, while former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu Abubakar, came a distant second with 49,675 votes.
Prof. Mohammed Sani Haruna polled 5,844 votes to finish third, while Dr. Liman Hassan Mohammed, SAN, garnered 863 votes. Zaka Lekwi Yakubu, PhD, scored 396 votes, Dr. Fatima Abdullahi Adamu got 146 votes, and Selimu Adamson came last with 64 votes.
“Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, having satisfied the requirements of the APC Constitution and guidelines, and having scored the highest number of votes cast at these primaries, is hereby declared the winner of the primary elections and is returned elected and nominated as the party’s governorship candidate for Nasarawa State,” Prof. Maiyaki declared.
The committee chairman acknowledged that elections had not been held in a few wards following isolated incidents of violence across the state.
He said the committee, however, examined the figures and determined that the total number of registered voters in the affected wards would not alter the margin of victory, and therefore did not order a rerun.
The committee also cancelled the result of one ward primary that was marred by overvoting.
Prof. Maiyaki described the overall conduct of the primaries as peaceful and commendable, crediting the outcome to the cooperation of security agencies, including the Nigeria Police, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, and the Directorate of State Security.
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He specifically commended the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of the zone covering Nasarawa State and the Commissioner of Police for Nasarawa State, saying their officers worked tirelessly over two days to guarantee a secure atmosphere for the exercise.
The committee chairman also acknowledged the presence of INEC observers at all wards across the state, as well as representatives of Civil Society Organisations who monitored the proceedings.
Prof. Maiyaki reserved special commendation for Governor Abdullahi Sule, describing him as the cornerstone of the exercise.
“It is my singular honour and privilege to mention with a lot of gratitude and respect, His Excellency Engineer A. A. Sule, the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, who on the first day of our arrival received us with warm hospitality and provided us all the enablement to ensure that every step we took and every decision we made was in accordance with the law,” he said.
Wadada, who was endorsed by Governor Sule ahead of the primary, now flies the APC governorship flag into the 2027 general election.
