By Rayyanu Bala

Chief Douglas Otaru, the former publicity secretary who was recently removed from his position following the APC state congress, was quoted as making several allegations against Dr. Aliyu Bello, the party’s state chairman. However, from all indications, the claims he raised in his write-up published in Nasarawa Mirror are false.
The alarmist tone of Chief Otaru’s intervention might make for dramatic reading, but it collapses under the weight of its own exaggerations and selective storytelling.
The attempt to portray Abdullahi Sule as a leader who sat idly by while a few “desperados” hijacked the party is not just misleading; it is a deliberate distortion. Governor Sule did not, at any point, abandon the party to run on “autopilot.” That claim is not only unfair but also a product of deep-rooted envy.
Even more troubling is the repeated assertion that a candidate was “anointed” without consultation. This is simply false. The governor engaged widely and wisely across the spectrum of stakeholders within the All Progressives Congress. Politics at that level is not conducted in isolation, and anyone familiar with the dynamics of Nasarawa politics knows that no serious decision of this magnitude is taken without extensive engagement.
If there are indeed “critical stakeholders” who were ignored, as Otaru claims, then let them come forward and say so plainly. Enough of the vague insinuations and shadowboxing. Public discourse demands clarity, not cowardly generalizations.
And then there’s the curious attempt to elevate Aliyu Bello into some sort of overriding authority within the party. Since when did the state chairman become the leader of the APC in Nasarawa? That position, by every political convention and reality, is held by the sitting governor. Any effort to frame this entire narrative around the chairman while subtly undermining the governor is not just inconsistent; it is mischievous.
The criticism surrounding the emergence of Ahmed Wadada Aliyu also revealed clear biases in favor of a particular aspirant.
This raises an important question: how can we realistically expect any human being to be completely without preference?
The fact that Wadada is a “preferred candidate” does not automatically invalidate the democratic process, and it is disingenuous to assume otherwise.
Preference is not imposition, and for Governor Sule to say Wadada is his preferred aspirant is not a crime in any advanced democracy around the world.
What we are witnessing is a familiar pattern: when certain interests feel threatened, they cloak their grievances in the language of “democracy” and “fairness,” while conveniently ignoring the processes already in motion. Governor Abdullahi Sule did not just wake up one day and declare, “This is my preferred aspirant.” The process lasted over a year before he finally selected Wadada, having taken many factors into consideration, as he narrated during his meeting with his political appointees.
The party has made it clear that primaries will be guided by established rules and will determine the eventual flag bearer. So where exactly is the “doom” being prophesied?
These kinds of reckless statements do more harm than good. They feed unnecessary division, embolden opposition narratives, and undermine the very structure they claim to defend. If the concern is truly about the future of the APC in Nasarawa, then the conversation should be grounded in facts, not fiction.
Chief Otaru and others who share his view need to decide whether they are interested in strengthening the party or simply stirring controversy for certain political interests. Because right now, this so-called warning is not a patriotic intervention but a calculated attempt to sow discord where none is needed.