The political alliance that shaped Nasarawa State’s leadership for several years is now under severe strain as Governor Abdullahi Sule and his predecessor, Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, lock horns over different candidates in today’s APC governorship primary, writes our political editor Eshioromeh Sebastian.
Today, APC supporters across Nasarawa State will file into designated polling centres to decide who gets the party’s ticket for the 2027 governorship election, but the shadow of a bitter fallout between the state’s current leader and his predecessor hangs over the entire exercise.
The contest pits Sule’s preferred candidate, Senator Ahmed Wadada from Nasarawa West, against Al-Makura’s choice, former Inspector General of Police Mohammed Adamu from Nasarawa South.
But the real battle is between two men who once stood firmly together.Sule and Al-Makura’s relationship has soured over what the former governor describes as a lack of consultation. In remarks made in Lafia last week, Al-Makura did not hide his displeasure.
“I was never consulted as a major stakeholder before the announcement of a preferred successor. The APC hadn’t even started selling forms. It was too early”, he said. His complaint goes beyond timing.
Al-Makura believes Sule anointed Wadada without bringing key stakeholders into the conversation, turning what should have been a collective decision into a one-man show.
Before Sule settled on Wadada, three candidates from Nasarawa West were in serious contention: Secretary to the State Government Labaran Magaji, Wadada himself, and Dr. Faisal Shuaib, the former executive director of the National Primary Health Care Development Agency.
All three had strong ties to the governor.Once Sule signalled that Wadada was his choice, the others stepped back. Shuaib redirected his ambition to the Senate seat that Wadada would vacate. Magaji also withdrew.
Whether this reflected genuine loyalty or political calculation, the effect was the same: Sule had successfully cleared the field for his anointed candidate.Al-Makura, however, refused to follow the script. He threw his weight behind Adamu, arguing that Nasarawa deserves a genuine contest rather than a coronation.
Two men, two networksBoth Sule and Al-Makura bring significant political capital to this fight, but their strengths lie in different places.Al-Makura serves as North-Central Coordinator for the Renewed Hope Ambassadors and was among the few northern governors who stood with President Bola Tinubu during his days in the defunct Congress for Progressive Change.
His political network runs deep across the state, built during eight years as governor.Sule moves in different circles. He is known to be close to Aliko Dangote and businessman Gilbert Chagoury, both of whom have strong ties to Tinubu.
For critics, Wadada’s endorsement looks less like a zoning calculation and more like an effort to protect economic interests. With Nasarawa sitting on significant lithium, gold, and industrial potential, the governorship has taken on added importance.
Where the votes areOn paper, Sule controls the state’s political machinery. All 13 local government chairmen, the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, most lawmakers, the Deputy Governor, and the APC state chairman are aligned with Wadada.
The governor’s argument is straightforward: after years of power shifting between the senatorial zones, it is Nasarawa West’s turn.Al-Makura is playing a longer game. He is betting that direct primaries will favour a candidate with grassroots reach rather than institutional backing.
Adamu, through free medical outreaches, food distribution, and direct cash interventions, has built a reputation for touching voters directly. In a direct primary, that kind of ground game matters more than endorsements from the state capital.Adamu’s candidacy also disrupts Sule’s zoning logic.
He comes from Nasarawa South, which has already produced governors in Al-Makura and his predecessor, Aliyu Doma.
By rights, zoning advocates would say the South should wait its turn. But Adamu’s camp argues that zoning has never been a binding rule in Nasarawa, and that competence should outweigh geography.
Sule’s case for zoningGovernor Sule has made his argument repeatedly. Since 1999, he notes, Nasarawa has rotated the governorship: the West under Abdullahi Adamu, the South under Doma and Al-Makura, and now the North under Sule himself.
The West, he insists, deserves another shot after more than two decades without the top job.”The West hasn’t produced a governor in over 20 years, despite having the largest voting population,” Sule has said.
The numbers support his point. Karu Local Government alone, which borders the Federal Capital Territory, has more registered voters than some entire senatorial zones.
A candidate who sweeps the West and picks up additional votes in the North and South would be well on the way to victory.Even Senator Abdullahi Adamu, a towering figure in Nasarawa politics, seemed to back the zoning argument last year. “Keffi governed for eight years, Lafia for twelve. Akwanga is finishing its second term,” he said.
“The West must produce the next governor in 2027.”Al-Makura’s response has been measured but firm. He does not dismiss zoning outright, but he insists that no single candidate should be handed the ticket without a proper contest.
What’s at stakeFor the APC, which has controlled Nasarawa State since 2011, a badly handled primary could tear the party apart. A clean, competitive exercise, on the other hand, could set an example for other states grappling with similar godfather-godson tensions.But for the people of Nasarawa, the outcome is not abstract.
It will determine who appears on the ballot next year, who controls state contracts, and who shapes policy on security, education, and the exploitation of the state’s mineral wealth.
Today, delegates will cast their votes. And whether the result brings the party together or pushes it further apart, one thing seems certain: the fallout will not be quiet.
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