By Francis Nansak, Lafia
Critical APC stakeholders across Nasarawa State met on Tuesday at the Alhaji Aliyu Akwe Doma Banquet Hall to brainstorm on the way forward for the party, from the presidential and National Assembly elections down to the State House of Assembly.
The meeting was convened by the former APC National Chairman and first Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, Dr. Senator Abdullahi Adamu. In attendance were the immediate past Deputy Governor, Dr. Silas Agara; Director General of the National Directorate for Employment, NDE; Governor Engineer Abdullahi Sule; Senator Ahmed Wadada Aliyu; and members of the House of Representatives, among others.
However, Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura, the immediate predecessor to Engineer Abdullahi Sule, was conspicuously absent.
His absence has sent strong signals of a tactical departure from the APC in the state, based on his open support for Rtd. IGP Abubakar Mohammed Adamu, who defected to the Social Democratic Party, SDP, after the APC primaries.
A political analyst, when contacted, said Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura is a conspicuous figure and only the blind would believe he is still an active member of the APC in Nasarawa State.
“We have long known that Senator Al-Makura is at war with the state APC. His absence at a function like this is not new and should not be considered as anything far from his dislike for the APC governorship candidate, who was endorsed by the governor. It is a situation he masterminded years before his exit from office in 2018,”_ he said.
“The absence of Senator Al-Makura was deliberate. But the outcome of the meeting, which focused on reconciling aggrieved members, and the apology by the APC governorship candidate, Senator Ahmed Wadada Aliyu, was mature and political,”_ he submitted.
The APC stakeholders meeting is coming after the party’s primaries. It had in attendance top party supporters, aspirants, local government chairmen, and candidates of the party. Senator Abdullahi Adamu finally endorsed the governorship candidate of the party, Senator Ahmed Wadada Aliyu.
This many said Senator Al-Makura a chieftain of the party has left the party and now fronting for the SDP in the state against his bow of upholding the APC from top to bottom.
