Former Chairman of Karu Local Government Council and ex-Nasarawa State Commissioner, Samuel Akala, has alleged that Governor Abdullahi Sule directed his appointees to support Senator Ahmed Wadada, who contested on the platform of the Social Democratic Party, SDP.
Mr Akala said the governor’s alleged involvement in Wadada’s senatorial campaign, despite being a member of an APC-led government, was among the issues that contributed to the divisions currently rocking the ruling party in Nasarawa State.
The former council chairman made the allegations in a video shared on social media by Nasarawa Daily News.
He said the current political disagreement between Sule and some APC stakeholders did not begin with the latest political developments but could be traced to the 2023 general elections.
According to him, Mr Wadada defected to the SDP after losing the APC governorship primary and subsequently contested and won the Nasarawa West Senatorial seat with the support of Governor Sule.
Mr Akala alleged that the governor directed some of his political appointees, who were serving in an APC administration, to work for Wadada’s victory under the opposition party.
“What is happening does not start in this election in 2023. Wadada lost primary election in APC, and then took ticket of the SDP. The governor supported Wadada to win Senate in SDP in 2023,” he said.
“So the governor directed even his appointees who were in an APC government to work for SDP for Wadada in Senate in 2023. So what is happening today is not new.”
Mr Akala contrasted Mr Sule’s alleged position with that of former Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, whom he said worked towards ensuring APC candidates won across all elective positions in the state. He said Al-Makura advocated an APC victory from the presidential election to the National Assembly and other elective positions, but Sule disagreed with the approach because he believed the party’s primary elections were not transparent.
“In the last election, Al-Makura stood for what we call the APC from top to bottom. But the governor did not agree with voting from top to bottom because he said that the primary elections were not transparent,” he said.
The former commissioner suggested that the political pressure currently facing Sule was a consequence of his alleged actions during the 2023 elections.
“So they are paying him back in his own coin now,” he added.
His comments come amid renewed political tension in Nasarawa State following the emergence of former Inspector-General of Police Adamu Abubakar as the SDP governorship candidate. Mr Abubakar had participated in the APC governorship primary but left the party after Wadada was declared winner of the exercise amid controversy over the process. He subsequently joined the SDP and secured its governorship ticket.
Mr Wadada, who is currently seeking the APC governorship ticket, is now politically aligned with Sule, whose alleged support for his senatorial ambition in 2023 Akala says is at the root of the current political disagreement within the party.