By Yakubu Mabo Lafia

I read with bewilderment and mounting irritation the recently published piece titled “Nasarawa 2027: Should Wadada Reap Where He Didn’t Sow?” by one Olufolami Bitrus which appeared in the Nation Newspaper.

The article, a thinly veiled political hit job dressed up in lazy metaphors and pretentious moralizing, deserves a swift and pointed rebuttal—because what it lacks in substance, it makes up for in malice and mischief.

Let’s begin with the loaded headline. “Should Wadada reap where he didn’t sow?” What a tragically ironic question to ask of a man who has been sowing seeds of service, leadership, and empowerment across Nasarawa State for more than two decades. If Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada has not sowed, then who has? The recycled careerists now masquerading as “APC Loyalists” in Nasarawa? The men whose only claim to relevance is their ability to lounge in the corridors of power while ignoring the people they swore to serve?

Bitrus attempts to backhandedly acknowledge Wadada’s popularity and political capital, only to immediately try to diminish it with shallow insinuations about “outsider status” and “identity politics.” It is precisely this brand of tired, tribalistic gatekeeping that has held Nasarawa’s politics hostage for too long. Let’s be honest: the fear gripping the so called APC loyalists isn’t that Wadada is an outsider—it’s that he’s too much of an insider with the people. They see in him someone who commands genuine grassroots loyalty and can’t be bullied or bought by backroom power brokers.

Bitrus also conveniently omits the reason Wadada left the APC in the first place—a party then hijacked by ego, impunity, and injustice. Wadada’s defection to the SDP in 2023 wasn’t political opportunism; it was political resistance, a principled rejection of the rotten core of a party that had lost its moral compass. And what happened next? Against all odds, without the federal might of incumbency, Wadada triumphed at the polls. That wasn’t luck. That was merit. That was the reward of years of consistent, people-driven politics.

To suggest now that he should be punished for succeeding outside the APC is not just undemocratic—it is intellectually dishonest. Bitrus asks whether the APC should allow Wadada “take the biggest pie in the plate,” ignoring the fact that the pie belongs to the people, not to self-anointed political aristocrats clutching honourary titles and faded résumés. This is a democracy, not a monarchy. You don’t inherit power—you earn it.

The attempt to link Wadada to Nasir El-Rufai as some sort of political liability is laughable. Senator Wadada, like him or not, remains one of the most cerebral and effective political figures Nasarawa state. Anything outside this, is but a smear campaign. An act of not only lazy journalism but a confession of ideological bankruptcy.

Moreover, the claim that Senator Wadada’s potential return to APC would betray his base, is a gross misunderstanding of his support structure. Wadada’s base is not built on the fragility of party labels—it is built on loyalty earned through years of selfless service. If he returns to APC, it would not be to serve the APC’s So called loyalists but to serve the people—something some in the party have long forgotten how to do.

Let it be clear: Senator Ahmed Wadada is not seeking to “reap where he didn’t sow.” He is rightfully poised to harvest the goodwill, credibility, and trust he has cultivated over the years. If that scares some people in the political establishment, perhaps it’s because they know deep down they have sown nothing but entitlement and expect a bumper harvest of power. That harvest is over.

Bitrus ends his article with the usual doomsday prophecy: that this could be “the most difficult decision of Wadada’s life” and may lead to “political oblivion.” Well, let me assure him: Wadada is not a man known for cowardice. He is a man of conviction. And history has shown time and again—those who walk with the people may stumble, but they do not fall.

So yes, come 2027, Wadada will reap. And not because the gatekeepers of a broken political system handed him anything. But because the people will.