BY VICTORIA NGOZI IKEANO
victoriangozii@gmail.com 08033077519
 
It is said that in politics 24 hours, one day, is quite a long period as many things can change, happen and unfold within that short time. And so it is with Nigeria’s 2027  race  as it is replete with twists, turns and drama every day. As at now, decamping/defections continue to occur literally daily. And even at this 11th hour when INEC had published list of contestants for the various positions namely, president, senate, house of representatives, governor and house of assembly, and campaigns officially commenced, some former aspirants are just now entering the race as candidates. It was widely believed that under the new electoral Act a person that contested in a party’s primary election is ineligible to participate in another party’s primaries. Truly, the Act allows replacement of candidates in the case of death or resignation. Again, this was generally believed to relate only to the inevitable instance of death. Nigerians rarely imagine that a person would voluntarily relinquish his candidature through resignation given how majority of our politicians desperately desire to have their names on the ballot, deploying huge finances to that end; which makes one wonder what behind the scene deals were done to exact such resignations in Nasarawa and Gombe States.
 
          Recall that the former Inspector General of police, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu (a.k.a. IG) was a major contender in the Nasarawa state APC primary election. He was backed by the immediate past governor, Senator Tanko Al-makura a.k.a. Ta’al.  IGP Adamu (rtd) was defeated by incumbent senator, Ahmed Wadada Aliyu. However, the former IG and his supporters alleged there were large scale malpractices and rejected the result. Even when APC listed Wadada as its governorship candidate, many of his supporters maintained that his name would be on the ballot. Then, recently, INEC released names of all governorship candidates.  Whereas Wadada was named APC gubernatorial flag bearer for Nasarawa state, IG’s name was missing in all 14 participating parties in the state. This elicited some   jubilation amongst Wadada’s supporters. Still, IG’s camp insisted they have a trump card.
 
          That ‘trump  card’ emerged in a letter sent to INEC by the SDP national leadership  titled, “Notice of party primary elections to replace governorship candidates of the Social Democratic Party”.  Signed by its  National Chairman, Professor Sadiq   Gombe and National Secretary, Dr, Olu  Agunloye, the party formally invited the electoral umpire to monitor primary elections for substitution of governorship candidates on September 5, 2026 at the SDP state secretariat, Gombe, Gombe state and Ta’al  Hotel, Lafia, Nasarawa state respectively. They attached letters and affidavits of withdrawal of the candidates that stepped down. For Nasarawa it was Musa Adamu Angba whose name INEC had published as the SDP gubernatorial candidate.  And so it was that IGP Mohammed Adamu surfaced as SDP flag bearer through consensus/affirmation for the 2027 race.  So, Wadada’s main rival in the primary election of May 2026 is also going to be his major opponent in the secondary election on February 9, 2027. 
 
          However critics faulted the replacement primary election, saying that it violated sections of the electoral law and INEC guidelines. They hinted at challenging it in law courts. Nonetheless, an Abuja-based senior lawyer who is a former Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice in Nasarawa state as well as one time Secretary of the Council on Legal Education at the Nigeria Law School, Yusuf Shehu Usman stated that the September 5, 2026 election was  in order legally.  Said he,  “It is pertinent to observe that some of the arguments failed to distinguish between the first and a rescheduled primary elections in terms of the applicable procedures and the time lines required to be complied with by the political party in the conduct of a rescheduled primary election. Suffice it to state that there is under the law, a presumption of regularity in the conduct of a public institution recognised by the law. The law presumes that they acted regularly and in compliance with the requirements of the law until proven otherwise. The presumption favours the SDP in the conduct of the primaries it held on 5th September across two states (Nasarawa and Gombe) and everything the party did in the process is deemed regular and valid”. On people wanting to challenge the substitution primaries in court, Yusuf Usman stated that it is only those who participated in it that can do so.. “The right to challenge the primaries in the Courts is a right conferred by the Electoral Act only on members of the SDP who participated in the rescheduled primary election as aspirants. That is the law and I state it without any doubt or equivocation”.  He continued, “With particular reference to the SDP Primary election in which Adamu the former IGP emerged as the substituted Governorship candidate, the report of the Primary election showed that Adamu was the only aspirant who contested the primary election and was returned unopposed by consensus and duly affirmed by the SDP members at the election ground. It is therefore very safe to assert against the back drop of the law as earlier explained that nobody has the right in law to contest his emergence as the duly elected Governorship candidate of the SDP in the 2027 Governorship election in Nasarawa state”.
 
           To-date, the bitter rivalry  between  former IGP  and Wadada camps which started from the  time Nasarawa state’s  governorship slot was zoned to the western senatorial district and Governor Abdullahi Sule subsequently chose Wadada as his preferred successor has snowballed into dangerous name calling and throwing of ‘poisonous’ darts. Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, Nasrawa state’s first executive governor recently convened an APC stakeholders meeting in Lafia, the state capital to deliberate on delivering both Wadada as governor and President Tinubu in 2027 elections. A notable stakeholder, former governor Al-makura was absent at this all important meeting. He was said to be attending a Renewed Hope Ambassadors event in Abuja on same day. This led a political analyst Rayannu Bala to remind Al-makura that all politics is local; that is to say that charity should begin at home. All well- meaning  citizens of Nasarawa state including opinion leaders and the traditional institution should endeavour to lower the rather high political temperature in Nasarawa state which has witnessed spate of violence in  Lafia central.
 
            A political melodrama unfolded in Osogbo. Recall that incumbent governor, Ademola Adeleke who had defected from PDP to Accord party, won the August 15, 2026 off cycle election for Osun state with over 500,000 votes while APC candidate, Bola Oyebamiji was the runner up with over 400,000 votes. Once the official result was announced, President Bola Tinubu promptly congratulated Adeleke on his victory; while the governor upon receiving his certificate of return from INEC went to the Villa to show it to Tinubu and also to pledge his support for the president’s re-election in 2027. APC’s National Secretary Bashir Ajibola also felicitated with the governor at his osogbo office just as the APC candidate himself paid a similar congratulatory visit to Adeleke. It therefore, came like a bolt from the blues when the media reported that APC had filed a petition against Governor Adeleke at the Tribunal.  Secretary of Osun State Election Tribunal, Belemo Diete-Spiff confirmed this development when he notified the public about receipt of suit number EPT/OS/Gov/01/2026 in which Bola Oyebamiji and the APC are listed as the Petitioners with  Ademola Adeleke as well as  INEC named as the Respondents.
 
            It was really baffling given that APC National Leader in person of President Tinubu had congratulated the winner and the APC candidate himself conceded defeat days later. Where is the petition coming from? A leader of APC legal team in Osun, Adekunle Adegoke (SAN) later dismissed the suit, revealing that the team had advised Oyebamiji not to go to court. “I want to be on record that APC legal team has denounced the bundle of papers filed by some individuals masquerading as APC lawyers. It was not authorised by APC as a party”, he averred.   It used to be the case during the last administration that even when the president had congratulated winners of off-cycle polls, the party still went ahead to challenge the victor in court with an array of lawyers to argue its case. This amounts to disrespect if you ask me; notwithstanding that the challengers argued that they were strengthening Nigeria’s jurisprudence by doing so. Both the current APC national leader and the national secretariat should put a halt to instances of party members stepping out of line by undertaking unauthorised actions. Defaulters should be sanctioned appropriately to instil discipline amongst party members. PDP (the faction led by the FCT minister and which is the one recognised by INEC) through its publicity secretary, similarly disowned another petition reference EPT/OS/Gov/02/2026 filed on its behalf against Adeleke, Accord party and INEC.
 
           My observation from list of all governorship candidates released by INEC is that the once ‘mighty’ PDP though factionalised and bruised is not dead after all. For, it is fielding gubernatorial candidates in all 28 states where elections shall be conducted next year, save in Delta and Zamfara states.  It remains to be seen how the party shall fare during the polls. The Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC) is accusing INEC of substituting some of its candidates. INEC denies this and is demanding for evidence from the party so it can investigate and mete out punishment to any erring staff. This is hardly believable though because INEC gives access codes to leadership of each political party whose responsibility it is to then upload their candidates to the INEC portal.

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