Like other states of the country where the 2023 governorship elections is billed to take place, Nasarawa is witnessing heightened political activities with gladiators engaging in subtle permutations geared towards clinching the highest political office, which is currently occupied by the All Progressives Congress (APC) Engr Abdullahi Sule.
As should be expected, Governor Sule whose first term expires May 29 of next year is seeking reelection on the platform of APC. Others seeking to occupy the coveted governorship seat in Nasarawa are David Ombugadu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Abdullahi Maidoya of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP); Joseph Ewuga of Labour Party; Umar Akwe Doma of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), Mohammed Inyass of Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Mohammed Suleiman of Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
Ahead of the commencement of full campaigns, which will see all the candidates or their agents traversing the entire nook and cranny of the state to seek for the support of the electorate, subtle permutations and political realignment, are currently ongoing.
Politics watchers assert that the issues that will dominate the campaigns are the usual issues of security, infrastructural development, job creation and rural development among others.
But how do the candidates stand going into the election?
APC’s Governor Abdullahi Sule
Arguably, the race is going to be between incumbent Governor Abdullahi Sule of the ruling APC and the candidates of other political parties, some of whom are described by analysts as mere pretenders.
Sule and his party, campaigning on continuity, will focus more on the governor’s trajectory in the area of security, completion of ongoing projects and prompt payment of worker’s salaries. Other areas where the governor will bank on is his records of accomplishment in the area of economic empowerment and job creation through skill training.
APC groups rooting for Sule’s reelection have continued to hinge their campaigns on the fact that the governor deserves a second term because he ‘exceeded all expectations’ as far as his records of performance across the critical sectors are concerned. Some of the plausible efforts of the governor in the area of infrastructural development are the completion of Kwandare Airport,Lafia; and, the Wing Commander Abdullahi Ibrahim Technology Institute.
“This is one governor that has remained consistent in addressing the key development challenges of the state and we believe that one good turn deserves reelection,” Esla Martin, a member of one of the groups rooting for the governor’s reelection, said.
However, there are concerns that internal wrangling, especially the discord that arose from the APC’s primary elections which has led to some party wigs defecting to other political parties could put some dents on the governor’s reelection bid.
Some stakeholders assert that nothing underscores the enormity of the challenge to the governor’s reelection bid like the exodus of some heavyweights from APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
There are concerns that the defection of Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, Jonathan Gaza, Senator Godiya Akwashiki, Muhammed Aga Muluku, Musa Ibrahim to the SDP and the lingering rumpus between Arc Shehu Tukur and Bar Labaran Magaji in Nasarawa West Senatorial Zone could portend serious danger for the APC ahead of the 2023 polls.
“The defection of these influential politicians who have the winning streaks and hence are seen widely as people that matters, is a colossal lost to the ruling party”
Only time will tell the extent to which this will affect the governor’s chances of getting a second term. However, his camp and indeed the APC, is optimistic of victory.
“All of these issues will eventually be resolved and the APC will form a formidable front, enter and come out of the election victorious. We have not seen any challenge to that” an APC member, Egye Iyimonye, enthused.
PDP’s David Ombugadu
Until the hurricane stirred by the then Congress for Progressives Change-CPC- swept it out of power in 2011, the PDP was the dominant party in Nasarawa State. But the former ruling party has since been trying, effortlessly, to regain the lost momentum.
To fly its governorship flag this election session like the last, is David Ombugadu who is seen by many as a vibrant and versatile politician. With sterling quality of performance when he served as member of the House of Representatives, Ombugadu is counting on beneficiaries of his effective representation at the lower chambers and others who may be uncomfortable with the current political arrangements, to clinch the guber seat.
Also, his camp and indeed the PDP hopes to harvest from the internal wrangling that dogged APC’s party primaries. However, that hope is stillbirth as those aggrieved have started pitching their tent with the SDP and not the PDP.
Even though the PDP is the biggest opposition party in the state, its failure to effectively unite and present a formidable opposition to the ruling APC has made most of the electorate, literally speaking, lose faith in its ability to wrestle power from the ruling party.
Labour Party’s Joseph Ewuga
Joseph Ewuga and his Labour Party are not popular in Nasarawa State even though the social media exaggerated the recent ‘one million man march’ held in Lafia, the state capital.
The fact that very little is known of Ewuga and the Labour Party’s ‘OBIdient movement’ has yet to make plausible in-road into the state has continued to cast doubt on the ability of the candidate to spring a surprise with many seeing him as a mere pretender to the race.
New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP’s) Maidoya
Although the opposition New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP) benefitted from the defection of some aggrieved APC members, the party’s governorship candidate, Abdullahi Yakubu Maidoya, is still not seen as a top contender. The party does not have the deserved presence and acceptability among the populace.
That notwithstanding, Maidoya’s standing as the MD/CEO of Maiyamco Development Foundation and a successful business man whose philanthropic gestures are being felt especially in his native Lafia municipality, may earn some appreciable votes for the party. However, analysts insist that the NNPP’s chances are slim.
Inyass And Social Democratic Party (SDP)
Mohammed Inyass is the SDP governorship candidate. The recent defection of some APC bigwigs to the SDP seemed to brighten the party’s chances with politics watchers asserting that it could spring some surprises. However, there are concerns that Inyass is an unknown political entity.
Akwe Doma’s Zenith Labour Party (ZLP)
Umar Aliyu Akwe Doma, scion of the Akwe Doma family and the eldest child of the late Governor Aliyu Akwe Doma, is the gubernatorial candidate of the Zenith Labour Party ( ZLP).
Doma is a mobiliser in his country home of Doma whose influence in the 2019 election produced one member of the House of Assembly representing Doma North Constituency under the platform of his party.
Analysts assert that the influence of the ZLP is limited to Doma local government and since the party needs votes across the state to produce the governor, it cannot be taken seriously.
Ahead of full campaigns, there is a consensus of opinion among analysts that the race is for the candidate of the ruling APC, Abdullahi Sule, to win because none of the other political parties’ candidates pose an imminent or future political threat to the formidable structure already put in place by the APC.
