APC Facing Challenges In Kwara, Benue, Nasarawa – Gov Sule

Nasarawa State Governor Abdullahi Sule has identified internal disagreements within the All Progressives Congress (APC) as one of the biggest challenges confronting the party in the North Central ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Sule spoke at a meeting of the North Central Grassroots Mobilization Network held at the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) in Abuja.

The meeting was attended by the APC national chairman, Prof. Nentawe Goshwe Yilwatda; the SGF, Senator George Akume; Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris; former Kogi State governor, Idris Wada; former Plateau State governor, Simon Lalong; deputy governor of Plateau State; national coordinator of the North Central Grassroots Mobilization Network, Arch. Sonny ST. Echono and other stakeholders from the region.

Sule specifically identified Kwara, Benue and Nasarawa as states where the party was facing the challenge, saying efforts were being made to resolve the issues.

He called for maturity in handling the disagreements and urged those involved to avoid making public statements that could hurt the party.

He said although there was broad support for President Bola Tinubu within the APC, disagreements over candidates for other elective positions could undermine the party’s efforts to maximise its votes in 2027.
“The bigger challenge is the one within the party, where you have people who are holding positions within the party, and they are now saying that we will vote for the president, but we will not vote for this, we will not vote for that, we will not vote for you,” Sule said.

He said such positions could create resentment among supporters of candidates being rejected by party leaders.

“The people are saying, why are we going to vote for the president if you are also not going to support our own candidate?” he said.

“My idea is that even if that’s what those kind of people want to do, please make less noise about it, because it’s going to affect us if we continue to make too much noise with a lot of bragadocio,” he said.

According to Sule, support for Tinubu in 2027 would come from different categories of voters, including those who personally support the president, those assessing his performance and those whose preferred candidates are supporting his presidential bid.

“But believe it or not, there are people who will vote for the president because their candidate is saying we are going to vote for the president,” he said.

He therefore stressed the need for APC leaders to understand the connection between support for the presidential candidate and support for candidates contesting other positions.

Sule also commended the APC national leadership for taking reconciliation seriously, particularly the presence of the national chairman and other senior party officials at the meeting.

The meeting formed part of the North Central APC’s preparations for the 2027 elections. The North Central Grassroots Mobilization Network has outlined a grand rally for October 10 in Lafia, Nasarawa State, as well as a medical outreach in Benue State and grassroots advocacy tours and town hall meetings across the six states in the zone and the Federal Capital Territory.

The network said the programme was intended to ensure that the North Central delivers the highest number of votes from the northern part of Nigeria in the January 2027 presidential election.