By Musa Na Musa

Politics is often defined by titles, offices and public declarations. But political relevance is ultimately measured by conduct, participation, loyalty and the choices political actors make when the interests of their party collide with personal ambitions, alliances or political calculations.
Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura undoubtedly occupies an important place in the political history of Nasarawa State and the evolution of the All Progressives Congress (APC). As the first governor of Nasarawa State elected on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), he played a significant role in the political realignment that eventually produced the APC.
However, history is not a certificate of permanent loyalty.
The more pressing political question confronting Nasarawa State today is not what Al-Makura did fifteen years ago. It is what he is doing now.
At a time when the APC in Nasarawa State is consolidating its structures ahead of the 2027 general election, a striking political contradiction has emerged: Al-Makura, who is reportedly serving as the North-Central Coordinator of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, appears politically distant from major APC activities in Nasarawa State while being associated with support for the governorship aspiration of retired Inspector-General of Police, Muhammad Abubakar Adamu, who is seeking the governorship under the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
This development raises serious questions about political consistency, party loyalty and the meaning of leadership within a governing political party.
Agenda is not merely a personal political slogan. It is the political and governance identity associated with the administration of President Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and, by extension, the APC that produced him.
Therefore, the position of a North-Central Coordinator of the Renewed Hope Agenda carries both political symbolism and practical responsibility. Such a position naturally suggests a duty to mobilise political support, strengthen party structures and promote the political interests of the administration and its governing party.
This is why the apparent political distance between Al-Makura and APC activities in Nasarawa State deserves scrutiny.
If a politician occupies a strategic mobilisation position for the Renewed Hope political project at the regional level, should he not also be visibly invested in the survival, unity and electoral success of the APC in his own home state?
Can someone be expected to mobilise the North-Central geopolitical zone for the political agenda of President Tinubu while remaining conspicuously absent from, or detached from, the political activities of the APC in Nasarawa State?
These are legitimate questions.
They become even more important when reports and political developments suggest that Al-Makura is sympathetic to, or supportive of, the governorship aspiration of retired IGP Muhammad Abubakar Adamu under the platform of the SDP.
Politics permits friendship. It permits personal relationships. It permits political consultation.
But party politics also imposes boundaries.
A political leader cannot simultaneously demand recognition as a central pillar of one political party while appearing to lend political energy, influence or strategic support to the electoral ambition of a candidate seeking to defeat that same party under another platform.
That contradiction cannot simply be dismissed as ordinary political friendship.

The 2027 governorship election in Nasarawa State is gradually emerging as one of the most consequential political contests in the state’s recent history.
The APC will naturally seek to retain control of the state, while opposition parties will attempt to exploit divisions, personal rivalries and unresolved grievances within the ruling party.
The emergence of retired IGP Muhammad Abubakar Adamu as a major political figure seeking the governorship under the SDP has therefore altered the political equation.
What makes the situation particularly significant is the political relationship between Al-Makura and the former Inspector-General of Police.
If Al-Makura, a former APC governor and prominent national figure within the APC family, chooses to openly or covertly support the governorship ambition of an SDP candidate against the eventual APC candidate, it would represent more than an ordinary political disagreement.
It would raise the question of whether political loyalty has become conditional.
The issue is not whether Muhammad Abubakar Adamu has the constitutional right to seek elective office. He certainly does, subject to applicable electoral and party laws.
Neither is the issue whether Al-Makura has the right to maintain personal relationships across political lines. Every politician does.
The issue is political consistency.
Can the North-Central Coordinator of the Renewed Hope Agenda actively participate in the political project of President Tinubu and the APC while simultaneously supporting an opposition governorship candidate whose victory could weaken the APC in Nasarawa State?
That is the contradiction that requires explanation.

There was a time when Senator Al-Makura was at the centre of virtually every major political development in Nasarawa State.
As governor, his presence dominated the political landscape. Party meetings, campaigns, strategic consultations and electoral mobilisation were closely associated with his political machinery.
Today, however, the political landscape appears considerably different.
The APC in Nasarawa State has continued to organise meetings, consultations, stakeholder engagements and political activities as preparations intensify for 2027. Yet the question increasingly being asked within political circles is the extent of Al-Makura’s visible participation and contribution to these activities.
Political leadership is not measured only by past achievements.
It is also measured by present commitment.
A politician cannot continuously invoke the sacrifices of yesterday while remaining absent from the battles of today.
The APC that Al-Makura and others helped to build cannot survive on historical memories alone. Political parties require continuous mobilisation, reconciliation, grassroots organisation and visible leadership.
If Al-Makura considers himself a father of the APC in Nasarawa State, then the party is entitled to expect fatherly intervention when unity is threatened.
If he considers himself one of the architects of the APC, then the party is entitled to expect his presence when the structure requires maintenance.
A builder who abandons a house during a storm cannot expect exclusive credit for having laid the foundation years earlier.

An earlier article boldly declared that “Al-Makura is APC and APC is Al-Makura.”
That statement was already politically exaggerated.
But recent political developments make it even more difficult to sustain.
Political parties are institutions, not private estates.
The APC did not begin and end with Al-Makura.
Just as the PDP was bigger than its founding fathers, and the CPC was bigger than any single politician, the APC remains a collective political organisation built by numerous leaders, groups and millions of ordinary supporters.
Al-Makura deserves recognition for his role in the political evolution that brought the APC into existence.
But recognition for the past cannot become immunity from scrutiny in the present.
The question today is no longer simply:
“What did Al-Makura do for the APC?”
The more relevant question is:
“What is Al-Makura doing for the APC now?”
Is he participating in party mobilisation?
Is he strengthening reconciliation?
Is he contributing to the success of President Tinubu’s political project in Nasarawa State?
Is he supporting the APC to retain Nasarawa in 2027?
Or is his political influence being deployed elsewhere?
These questions are unavoidable.

The political philosophy of the Renewed Hope Agenda is built around the success of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the broader political strength of the APC.
A coordinator of such an agenda cannot reasonably separate presidential politics from the fortunes of the party at the state level.
The presidency does not exist in a political vacuum.
The strength of the APC in the states contributes to the strength of the party nationally.
Nasarawa State is strategically important to the APC in the North-Central region. It has consistently produced influential political leaders and remains a critical battleground in national elections.
Therefore, weakening the APC structure in Nasarawa while claiming to coordinate the Renewed Hope Agenda in the North-Central would create an obvious political contradiction.
One cannot promote the roof while weakening the foundation.
One cannot claim to defend the national political project while undermining the state structures upon which that project depends.
The Renewed Hope Agenda cannot be interpreted as a selective commitment—loyalty to the President at the federal level and political indifference, or opposition, to the APC at the state level.
Party loyalty cannot operate on two contradictory platforms.

The entrance of retired IGP Muhammad Abubakar Adamu into the Nasarawa governorship race under the SDP has added a new dimension to the political calculations ahead of 2027.
His candidacy will naturally attract supporters, political allies and former associates.
That is normal in a democracy.
But where the political support of prominent APC leaders becomes involved, the matter transcends individual ambition.
The APC leadership and membership in Nasarawa State have every right to ask whether senior figures within the party are fully committed to the party’s electoral future.
This is especially important because politics is not merely about public declarations.
Political support can take many forms: mobilisation, strategic advice, endorsements, meetings, influence over supporters and silent encouragement.
The electorate may ultimately decide who becomes governor, but political parties must first decide whether their own leaders are genuinely committed to their collective cause.
The SDP does not require APC leaders to build its political structures.
The opposition does not require internal sympathisers to weaken the confidence of APC members.
The greatest threat to any ruling party often does not come from the opposition outside.
It comes from unresolved contradictions within.

The earlier analysis of Al-Makura’s political history raised questions about his capacity to translate personal political success into electoral support for Muhammadu Buhari during the 2011 and 2015 presidential elections in Nasarawa State.
Those historical questions remain part of the political record.
But the 2027 situation presents an entirely new test.
This time, the question is not about whether Al-Makura can deliver votes for a presidential candidate.
The question is whether he is willing to stand politically with the APC in Nasarawa State at all.
There is a fundamental difference between losing an election despite supporting one’s party and appearing politically detached from the party’s campaign and mobilisation efforts.
The first may be an electoral misfortune.
The second may become a question of political commitment.
If Al-Makura believes the APC in Nasarawa requires reform, reconciliation or a new direction, then the appropriate place to pursue those objectives is within the party structure.
Political elders are expected to resolve conflicts, not deepen them.
Founders are expected to preserve institutions, not watch silently while rival structures grow stronger.
APC Must Also Look Beyond Individuals
At the same time, the APC in Nasarawa State must learn an important lesson from the current political situation.
No political party should depend excessively on one individual.
The era of personality-based politics is gradually giving way to stronger institutional and grassroots structures.
The APC must therefore continue to build its ward structures, strengthen local leadership, reconcile aggrieved members and develop credible candidates without waiting for the approval or participation of any single political leader.
If Al-Makura chooses to fully participate in APC activities, his experience and political history may remain valuable.
If he chooses political neutrality, the party must continue.
And if he chooses to support an opposition candidate, the APC must confront the political reality with maturity and confidence.
No individual should be considered bigger than the party.
The same principle applies to former governors, serving senators, ministers, party chairmen and political godfathers.
Political institutions survive when they are stronger than individual personalities.

Senator Umaru Tanko Al-Makura now stands at an important political crossroads.
His past remains part of Nasarawa’s political history.
His contributions to the CPC and the emergence of the APC cannot simply be erased.
But history alone cannot answer the questions of 2027.
The politics of today demands clarity.
If Al-Makura is committed to the APC, then his political energy should be visible in the party’s mobilisation and consolidation efforts in Nasarawa State.
If he is the North-Central Coordinator of the Renewed Hope Agenda, then the success of the APC at every level—including Nasarawa State—should naturally concern him.
And if he chooses to support the SDP governorship candidate against the APC, then he must accept that such a decision will inevitably raise questions about the political consistency of simultaneously occupying a prominent mobilisation role connected to the APC’s national political project.
Political loyalty cannot be claimed only when history is being celebrated.
It must also be demonstrated when the future is being contested.
The APC does not belong to Al-Makura.
Al-Makura does not own the APC.
But if he wishes to continue enjoying recognition as one of its founding figures and political pillars, then the party and its members are entitled to ask a simple question:
When Nasarawa APC needs you ahead of 2027, where do you stand?
That question cannot be answered with memories of 2011.
It cannot be answered with the history of the CPC.
It cannot be answered with claims about who built the party.
It can only be answered through present political conduct.
Because in politics, yesterday may establish a reputation—but it is today’s actions that define loyalty.
And as Nasarawa State moves closer to the 2027 general election, the distinction between historical ownership of a political legacy and present commitment to a political cause will become increasingly impossible to ignore.