Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has congratulated Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada on his victory in the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship primary election, urging party members who did not support the candidate to accept the outcome in good faith and work towards the unity of the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking on Saturday during a meeting with APC stakeholders, political appointees, and party leaders at the Government House in Lafia, the governor stressed the need for reconciliation among party faithful following the conclusion of the governorship and state assembly primaries.
Drawing from his personal experience in his home ward of Gudi Station, Sule noted that democracy naturally produces winners and losers, cautioning party members against attributing every electoral loss to manipulation.
“Anybody going into an election knowing that I must win, and if I don’t win it is because they rigged me, that person has more to learn about democracy,” the governor said.
Sule also commended one of the governorship aspirants, Dr. Liman Hassan Mohammed, SAN, for demonstrating sportsmanship by personally calling to congratulate him shortly after the declaration of the primary election results.
The governor further acknowledged the efforts of security agencies, including the Nigerian Police Force and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), for ensuring a peaceful conduct of the governorship primary election across the state.
Earlier, Sule briefed party stakeholders on the forthcoming APC presidential primary election, which he said would be conducted across the state’s 147 electoral wards through a direct primary system.
According to him, all registered APC members would be eligible to vote in their respective wards during the exercise.
He explained that the presidential primary would feature two aspirants — President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Mr. Osifo Osaigemen Stanley of Edo State — making a formal primary election compulsory in line with the party’s constitution and guidelines.
“Even if that is your feeling, you still have to carry out the exercise in line with the provision of the law. So please, let’s not put it to the side; let’s go ahead and carry our assignment as we have indicated,” he told the gathering.
The governor disclosed that the 13 local government chairmen in the state had been appointed as local government collation officers, while the 147 councillors would serve as ward coordinators for the exercise.
He added that results from the wards would be collated at the local government level before transmission to the Presidential Primary Election Committee in Abuja, chaired by former Senate President Pius Anyim, with former Senate President Ken Nnamani, Senator Victor Ndoma-Egba (SAN), and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, among others, serving as members.
Sule also announced the constitution of a Presidential Primary Election Appeal Committee chaired by former Katsina State Governor Aminu Masari, with former Speaker of the House of Representatives Patricia Etteh serving as a member.
He urged commissioners, advisers, permanent secretaries, and other political appointees to cooperate fully with ward and local government officers assigned to conduct the exercise.
Speaking at the event, the Nasarawa State APC Chairman, Dr. Aliyu Bello, congratulated Governor Sule and loyal party members for the successful conduct of the governorship primary election, describing Senator Wadada’s emergence as well-deserved.
Bello, while expressing satisfaction with the commitment of party members during the exercise, warned that the party had taken note of individuals who worked against the APC governorship candidate but nonetheless extended an olive branch to aggrieved members in the interest of party unity ahead of the 2027 elections.