Political party loyalty is tested not when everything is going well, but when a politician’s preferred candidate loses an internal contest and chooses another political platform that is where political party loyalty is tested.
This is precisely the situation now confronting former Nasarawa State Governor Senator, Umaru Tanko Al-Makura.
There is nothing wrong with Al-Makura supporting Mohammed Abubakar Adamu when Adamu was seeking the governorship ticket of the All Progressives Congress. That was an internal APC contest, and every party member was entitled to support the aspirant of his choice.
But that argument no longer applies now.
Adamu has left the APC and is contesting the Nasarawa governorship on the platform of the Social Democratic Party. If Al-Makura has now chosen to continue sponsoring or actively supporting Adamu’s governorship ambition, he cannot at the same time credibly present himself as an APC loyalist.
A politician cannot reasonably claim membership and loyalty to one political party while deploying his political influence to advance the governorship candidate of another party against the interests of his own party. At some point, a choice has to be made.
If Al-Makura’s political conviction is that Adamu remains the right person to govern Nasarawa State despite Adamu’s departure from the APC, then the principled course would have been for Al-Makura himself to leave the APC and join the SDP alongside the candidate he supports.
He cannot, however, have it both ways.
He cannot remain inside the APC, benefit from the identity and structure of the party, while simultaneously working to advance the electoral fortunes of a governorship candidate running against the APC.
The recent position of the Progressive Governors Forum has made the matter even clearer. The forum, under the chairmanship of Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma, reaffirmed the commitment of APC governors and party structures to APC candidates and opposed political arrangements capable of weakening the party or creating divided loyalty.
That position places a straightforward responsibility on prominent APC members: if they disagree with the party’s candidate or direction to the point of supporting another party’s candidate, they should be honest enough to make their political choice openly and move to another party.
There is nothing undemocratic about leaving a political party.
Politicians leave parties every day because of differences over ideology, leadership, nominations, strategy or personal political convictions. That is part of democratic competition. What is difficult to justify is remaining in one party while actively advancing the electoral interests of another.
Al-Makura is particularly significant in this regard because of his history and influence within Nasarawa politics. As a former governor and former senator, his political actions carry considerable weight. His position cannot simply be dismissed as that of an ordinary party member making a private choice.
This is why the issue deserves to be addressed directly rather than hidden behind the language of political friendship or personal conviction.
Al-Makura was free to support Adamu when both were operating within the APC. If Adamu subsequently decided that his political future was better served outside the APC, that was his choice.
Al-Makura then had another choice to make.
He could remain with the APC and support the party’s candidates, Or, if his commitment to Adamu’s candidacy was stronger than his commitment to the APC platform, he could have followed him to the SDP.
What he should not do is occupy both political camps simultaneously.
Party membership carries responsibilities. It means accepting that there will be occasions when a member’s personal preference does not prevail. It also means recognising that once the party has concluded its internal processes and produced its candidates, members who remain in the party have a responsibility not to undermine those candidates in favour of opponents.
If Al-Makura believes Adamu should govern Nasarawa and is prepared to work for that objective, he should be transparent about it. If he believes in the APC and its candidates, then his political activities should reflect that commitment.
What is untenable is the middle ground: claiming APC membership while actively promoting an opposition candidate for governor.
The matter is therefore bigger than Al-Makura and Adamu. It speaks to the standards that political parties should demand from their leading members.
A party cannot build cohesion if its most influential figures are permitted to operate simultaneously for the party and against it.
Al-Makura has every right to make his political choice. But every political choice has consequences, and political honesty requires that the choice be clearly stated.
If his choice is Adamu and the SDP, then he should have the courage of that choice and leave the APC.
If his choice is the APC, then he should support the party’s candidates and respect the collective decision of the APC
He cannot serve two political parties at the same time
For Al-Makura, the question is no longer simply who he prefers. The question is which political home he has chosen.