Reported by: Ijeoma G | Edited by: Oravbiere Osayomore Promise.
The Nasarawa State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is on the brink of a major explosion after a former Inspector‑General of Police and frontline governorship aspirant, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, threw down a gauntlet at Governor Abdullahi Sule, declaring that he will defeat both the governor and his anointed successor, Senator Ahmed Wadada, in a free and fair primary. In a clear challenge to the governor’s authority and his attempt to impose a successor, Adamu’s campaign team insisted that the former IGP is “the man to beat” and that Governor Sule’s endorsement of Wadada is merely a “personal decision” that cannot be forced on the party.
The crisis exploded into the open after Governor Sule, in a dramatic declaration at a meeting with political appointees, formally anointed Senator Wadada as his preferred candidate for the 2027 election. The governor presented Wadada to President Bola Tinubu at the Presidential Villa, effectively signaling that the party machinery was aligning behind his choice. But Adamu, who served as the country’s top police officer between 2019 and 2021, has rejected the governor's move outright, describing it as an attempt to railroad the party. Addressing a press conference in Lafia, Adamu and his supporters argued that Governor Sule’s plan to zone the governorship to Nasarawa West ignores the political realities of a state where no zoning arrangement has ever been respected. “There is nothing like zoning in Nasarawa,” Adamu declared, daring the governor to face the test of a direct primary where delegates are free to vote their conscience.
The tension is not limited to the political elite. In the streets of Karu and Keffi, supporters of the two heavyweights have begun a war of attrition. Earlier this month, rival rallies were held in each other’s “home bases,” with Adamu’s backers taking their campaign to Wadada’s hometown of Keffi, while Wadada’s supporters held a counter‑rally in Lafia. The battle lines have been drawn clearly. Aiding the former IGP is a newfound sense of liberation: the party has adopted a direct primary mode for the 2027 polls, stripping Governor Sule of the power to manipulate delegates behind closed doors. “They manipulate through indirect primaries. That threat has been removed. Nobody can take my delegates and keep them somewhere and tell them to vote a certain way,” Adamu told journalists.
While the governor’s camp argues that zoning the seat to the West is necessary for “equity and justice,” critics, including former Governor Tanko Al‑Makura, have warned that trying to force an unpopular candidate down the party’s throat could trigger mass defections and cost the APC the election. Adamu leans heavily on his security background, promising voters that his experience at the helm of the police force will be his winning card. “In view of my background in the security sector, I feel that at this time, I should be in the driving seat,” he said, vowing to address the farmer‑herder clashes and kidnapping that have plagued the state.
As the primaries approach, the party and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) face a massive test of their resolve to enforce a free and fair process. If Governor Sule succeeds in imposing Wadada, analysts warn of a catastrophic split in the APC, similar to the one that cost the party the presidency in 1993. But if Adamu carries the day, the governor’s hold over the state will be permanently broken. For now, the former IGP has drawn a line in the sand, stating what he believes is the truth: the people, not the governor, will determine who lives in the Government House in 2028.
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