APC Fast Losing Grip of Nasarawa State

Igbawase Ukumba reports that All Progressives Congress in Nasarawa State may have lost control of the state as outcome of last Saturday’s national assembly election has shown the Social Democratic Party and Peoples Democratic Party as being in firm control of the state.

It was on November 5, 2023, that President Muhammadu Buhari inaugurated all Progressives Congress (APC) Campaign Council for Governor Abdullahi Sule to crush opposition in the state during the 2023 general election.

However, Buhari’s directive to crush the opposition hit brick walls of the opposition due largely to the internal crisis that had engulfed the state chapter of the APC during the party’s primary elections. It was alleged in some places that the national headquarters of the APC had doctored the delegates’ list of the primary elections in the state.

Hitherto, the Nasarawa APC was reportedly on a reverse gear following mass exodus of its juggernauts from the party to the opposition political parties.
Hours after the Nasarawa State governorship primary election of the APC was conducted, there were allegations from the state chapter of the party that the entire delegates list of the party were changed overnight.

It was against this background that the state chapter of the APC had to suspend the state House of Assembly primaries citing alleged tampering with the authentic list of delegates in the state.

The chairman of the state chapter of APC, Dr John Mamman, had at a press conference in Lafia, the state capital, said the party was sad after discovering that the authentic list of delegates sent to the national secretariat for the party’s primaries had been tampered with.

He insisted that the party would not tolerate the unwarranted distortion of the official delegates list sent to the national secretariat. He also warned that the party would not accept any list outside the authentic list of delegates.

Mamman, however, enjoined the national secretariat of the APC, in the interest of peace, unity, harmony and the progress of the party, to ensure that wishes of the law-abiding party members were respected.

“The numbers of delegates across Local Government Areas in the state were doctored or completely changed. We consider this undemocratic, and this is capable of breeding disaffection, tension and disunity in the party. The APC in Nasarawa should not be made to lose its status and prestige as a model, “the Chairman had cautioned.

Consequently, the development caused uproar among powerful political strategists that had led the party to victory in previous elections. Hence, most of them either resigned their membership of the party, or just maintained the status quo as pseudo members to work against the party’s success in the 2023 polls.
Notable among those caught in the alleged doctored list crossfire were the chairman of the state 2019 Governorship Campaign Council, Hon Aliyu Wadada; Governor Sule’s former Campaign Director General, Senator John Danboyi and Senator Godiya Akwashiki.

Others were two incumbent members of the House of Representatives representing Lafia/Obi and Karu/Keffi/Kokona federal constituencies of the state – Hon Saraki Dahiru and Jonathan Gaza, respectively and the incumbent majority leader of the state House of Assembly, Hon Tanko Tunga, among others.

Be that as it may, the APC in Nasarawa State has been struggling to survive the bumper traps set against it by its aggrieved members and the opposition, hence leading to the party losing in the presidential and National Assembly election held on Saturday, February 25, 2023.

It could be based on the above scenario coupled with the support of youth in Nasarawa State for the presidential ambition of Mr. Peter Obi that metamorphosed into the defeat of the APC by the Labour Party (LP) in last Saturday’s presidential election in the state.

Flowing from this, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr. Peter Obi, polled a total of 191,361 votes in the 2023 presidential election conducted in Nasarawa State on February 25, 2023, to defeat Bola Ahmed Tinubu of the ruling APC.

The presidential election results as announced by the Nasarawa State Presidential Election Collation Officer, Prof. Ishaya Tanko, at the Lafia office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), showed Ahmed Tinubu of the APC polling 172,922 votes to come second while Atiku Abubakar of the PDP scored 147,093 votes to come third.

The presidential flagbearer of the NNPP, Musa Kwankwaso, trailed a distant fourth with 12,715 votes. Prof. Tanko, who is the Vice Chancellor of the University of Jos, said during his announcement of the results.

Also, the All Progressive Congress in the state has lost all the three senatorial seats to the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The first person to be consumed in the Nasarawa APC imbliglio was the National Chairman of the party, Senator Abdullahi Adamu, as INEC declared the SDP as winner of the Nasarawa West Senatorial District election. The senatorial district is the base of the APC’s National Chairman, Senator Abdullahi Adamu. Adamu had earlier lost his polling unit during the election to Peter Obi of the Labour Party.

The SDP senatorial candidate, Aliyu Wadada Ahmed, who had defected from the APC in the aftermath of the alleged doctored delegates’ list, is to replace Adamu, who had vacated his seat in the Red Chamber of the National Assembly last year after emerging National Chairman of the ruling APC.
Announcing the results of the election in Keffi, headquarters of the Nasarawa West Senatorial District, Returning Officer of the election, Prof. Nasir Baba, declared Aliyu Wadada Ahmed of the SDP as winner having polled 96,488 votes.

APC polled 47,717 votes while Umar Musa Galadima of PDP polled 46,820 votes, Bala Tongorma of LP got 33,228 votes while Wakil Kabiru of NNPP secured 2,667 votes.

Another victim of the party’s instability was the immediate past governor of the state, Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) last Monday, declared that the immediate past governor, who is representing Nasarawa South Senatorial District on the platform of the APC, had lost to Mohammed Onawo of the PDP with 76,813 votes, against 93,064 votes.

Declaring the result in Lafia, the Returning Officer, Prof. Ahmed Ashiku, said Onawo got 93,064 votes to defeat Al-Makura of APC who got 76,813 votes. The returning officer stated that, “Onawo of the PDP having satisfied the requirement of the law and scored the highest number of votes, is hereby returned elected.”
Similarly, the incumbent senator of the Nasarawa North Senatorial zone, Godiya Akwashiki, who had renounced his membership of the APC in the aftermath of the alleged doctored delegates’ list for APC’s primaries of the state, had won his re-election on the platform of the SDP against his former political party.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared Godiya Akwashiki of the SDP as winner of last Saturday’s election for the Nasarawa North Senatorial zone.

The INEC Returning Officer, Prof. Ilemona Adofu of Federal University of Lafia, declared Akwashiki as winner with 44,471 votes. Akwashiki defeated former Executive Secretary of the National Judicial Commission (NJC), Danladi Halilu Envuluanza, of the APC who scored 32,058 votes.

The PDP on the other hand scored 11,212 votes, the New Nigeria Peoples Party got 4,083 votes and All Progressives Grand Alliance received 1,455 votes, among others.

APC was also caught in the web of its internal imbliglio as it also lost its Lafia/Obi and Karu/Keffi/Kokona federal constituency seats to the opposition SDP.
The two federal constituencies mentioned are being represented by Hon Sarki Dahiru and Jonathan Gaza. The duo had since dumped the APC, on whose platform they were elected to represent their constituencies. They resigned their membership of the APC during the doctored delegates’list episode that denied them return ticket to the National Assembly.

Dahiru and Gaza after dumping APC pitched tent with the SDP where they contested to return to the green chambers of the National Assembly.
The INEC declared the two federal lawmakers winners of their constituencies at the Saturday polls.

Declaring Hon Gaza, Member of the House of Representatives for Karu/Keffi/Kokona Federal constituency as winner of the Saturday’s election for the constituency, INEC Returning Officer for the election, Prof George Genyi, declared Gaza, who polled 60,265 votes as winner at the Keffi Zonal Collation Centre in Keffi Local Government Area of the state last Monday.

Genyi said the candidate of the PDP, Mr Bulus Ishaku, scored 33,180 votes, with that of the LP, Mr Iliya Gambo scoring 29,665 votes, while that of the APC, Mr. Auta Koro, scored 28,417 votes, respectively.

“That Gaza Jonathan of the SDP having satisfied the requirements of the law is hereby declare winner and is returned elected,” Genyi declared.
In the same vein, Hon. Sarki Dahiru has won the Lafia/Obi Federal Constituency seat on the platform of the SDP. Dahiru, who was re-elected for the third term after dumping APC, polled 37,469 votes to defeat Ahmed Dallah of the PDP and Mohammed Al-Makura of the APC, who both scored 36,067 and 35,400 votes respectively.

Abdullahi Usman, Returning Officer of the election who declared the result said Dahiru scored the highest number of votes cast. He added that Dahiru of the SDP won having satisfied the requirements of the law and scored the highest number of votes in the election.