By Francis Nansak, Lafia
Participatory democracy should be encouraged in principle. It discourages marginalisation and promotes stability in the running of a state.
However, come 2027, efforts by other political parties to unseat the ruling All Progressives Congress in Nasarawa State will likely prove futile.
The reasons are not far-fetched. They lie in the value added by the APC-led administration since 2011, when the party took power with then Governor Umaru Tanko Al-Makura. He drove the state’s metamorphosis from a largely agrarian society to one marked by modern infrastructural advancement.
This was a feat the then ruling Peoples Democratic Party could not achieve. Beyond celebrating power and erecting skeletal edifices, the PDP offered no futuristic programmes like those seen today. It became a platform for power mongers to display greed, with little meaningful impact on citizens or value to attract investors.
The real turning point came in 2019 when Engineer Abdullahi Sule assumed office. He pledged to exceed all expectations. Today, Nasarawa State and its citizens can attest that expectations were not only met but inclusively established. The people are better for it.
Looking ahead to the 2027 struggle for power, dislodging the APC will be a formidable task. The current administration has laid deep, prospective foundations. Barring divine intervention, unseating it is unlikely.
Some argue Governor Sule erred in anointing Senator Ahmed Wadada Aliyu as his preferred successor. But dismissing Senator Wadada would be shortsighted. He is a political bulldozer,loud to his dreams, pragmatic, and a man of action.
His repeated pledge to scale up existing infrastructure and development is no mere political rhetoric. He has built a reputation on impacting society and transformative leadership.
Senator Wadada earned his name fighting injustice, solving problems, and leading with a sense of accountability for the hereafter.
For the PDP, SDP, ADC, or NDC to dream that the 2027 polls will uproot the institution the APC has concretised among communities, citizens, and foreign investors is, at best, a pipe dream unlikely to see daylight.
From 2011 to date, residents and visitors alike know a difference has been made. Senator Al-Makura earned acclaim for his creative administrative style, which laid a solid foundation for progress. He was named the “Architect of Modern Nasarawa”. He handed over to Engineer Abdullahi Sule, who vowed to exceed all expectations. Today, Sule is celebrated as The Engineer of Modern Nasarawa State as if no administration existed before him.
In conclusion, upturning the APC in Nasarawa State will be difficult. The party has been rooted for 15 uninterrupted years, compared to the PDP’s 10 years in power from 1999 to 2011. Senator Wadada’s ambition is now a household interest, discussed in streets and villages alike. Any new entrant dreaming of taking power from a party entrenched for over a decade must rethink, so long as the vested interests of A.A. Sule and Senator Wadada remain.
