2027: Defections from APC to SDP intensify as Adamu builds Nasarawa campaign

The Social Democratic Party (SDP) campaign of former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, says the wave of defections from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the opposition party is creating concern within the ruling party in Nasarawa State ahead of the 2027 governorship election.

Douglas Otaru, Director of Digital Media and Strategic Communications of the Adamu Campaign Council, made the claim while reacting to recent political developments.

Mr Otaru said the movement of APC members to the SDP reflected growing dissatisfaction within the ruling party and claimed that the APC was increasingly concerned about Mr Adamu’s emergence as a major contender for the governorship.

“The APC is battling political hypertension while we in the SDP are calm and confident,” Mr Otaru said.

He said recent defections demonstrated that more residents were beginning to consider the SDP as an alternative ahead of the 2027 election.

The former police chief was among the prominent APC governorship aspirants in the party’s May primary, which produced Senator Ahmed Wadada as the gubernatorialdo candidate.

Mr Wadada secured 195,285 votes to win the primary, while Mr Adamu came second with 39,675 votes and Professor Mohammed Sani Haruna scored 5,844 votes, according to the results reported by PREMIUM TIMES.

Mr Adamu subsequently resigned from the APC, rejecting the outcome of the primary and accusing the party of compromising its internal processes.

He later joined the SDP and emerged as the party’s governorship candidate after a replacement primary in September following the withdrawal of Musa Angbazo.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that Mr Adamu was the sole candidate in the replacement primary conducted across the state’s 13 local government areas.

His movement to the SDP has since altered the political calculations in the state, with the former IGP seeking to attract supporters from the ruling party ahead of the election.

Among prominent APC figures to have left the party is Mohammed Ari, a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police and former APC senatorial aspirant for Nasarawa South.

Mr Ari announced his defection to the SDP in September, citing the need for greater inclusiveness, internal democracy and accountability in political parties.

Four members of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Mohammed Omadefu, Isimbabi Garba, Kudu Ajegana and Inarigu Kana have also been reported to have left the APC amid disagreements within the party.

The defections have added to concerns about whether the APC can maintain the unity of its political structure ahead of the governorship election.

Mr Adamu is also benefiting from the political network of former Nasarawa State Governor, Tanko Al-Makura, who backed his governorship ambition during the APC primary.

Mr Al-Makura, a former two-term governor and senator, publicly supported Mr Adamu’s bid for the APC ticket before the primary.

His involvement has attracted attention because of his political history in the state and his ability to mobilise political networks.

PREMIUM TIMES reported in September that Mr Al-Makura’s backing could complicate the APC’s attempt to retain the governorship, particularly if a significant part of his political network eventually works for Mr Adamu’s SDP campaign.

Mr Al-Makura’s political relevance is also rooted in his 2011 governorship victory, when he defeated the incumbent governor, Aliyu Akwe Doma, on the platform of the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), the political bloc from which he later became part of the coalition that formed the APC.

His current role, however, does not automatically translate into electoral support for Mr Adamu.

Mr Al-Makura remains associated with the APC and the Tinubu administration, making the extent of his involvement in the SDP campaign a significant political question ahead of 2027.

The former governor’s support for Mr Adamu nevertheless means the SDP candidate is not entering the race solely with the structure of a former IGP who lost an APC primary. He is also attempting to inherit elements of an established political network built over years of electoral activity in the state.

In May, even before the APC primary, supporters of some governorship aspirants who withdrew from the race announced their support for Mr Adamu.

The supporters, said to have been drawn from the state’s 13 local government areas, included groups associated with former National Primary Health Care Development Agency chief executive, Faisal Shuaib, and former aspirant Ahmed Mohammed.

The development came after Mr Adamu’s campaign had opposed moves to produce a preferred APC candidate without what it considered a sufficiently competitive primary process.

Mr Otaru described the subsequent defections as evidence that the SDP was gaining ground in the state.

He expressed confidence that Mr Adamu would defeat the APC candidate in the 2027 election.

The APC, however, retains a significant organisational advantage as the ruling party in the state. Mr Wadada won the party’s governorship primary with a substantial statewide margin and has the backing of Governor Abdullahi Sule.

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The contest is therefore increasingly shaping up as a battle between Mr Wadada’s established APC structure and Mr Adamu’s attempt to assemble a coalition from disgruntled APC members, former political allies and elements of Mr Al-Makura’s political network.

The SDP campaign’s claim of growing popularity for Mr Adamu remains a political assertion, and there is no independent polling evidence establishing the size of his support across the state.

There is also an unresolved electoral dimension to Mr Adamu’s candidacy. PREMIUM TIMES reported in September that his campaign insisted he remained the SDP candidate despite questions arising from a Supreme Court judgment concerning provisions of the Electoral Act and the implications for party membership registers and candidate nominations.

The APC had not responded to Mr Otaru’s latest claims as of the time of filing this report.