By Hon. Musa Danjuma Ado
The majority of Nasarawa people especially the supporters of the APC view with utter disgust and grave concern the recent reckless remarks made by the Vice President, His Excellency Senator Kashim Shettima, during his visit to Lafia, where he had the audacity to describe Senator Ahmed Wadada as the “Governor-in-Waiting” of Nasarawa State.
This statement is not just a slip of the tongue; it is a calculated assault on the democratic rights of the people of Nasarawa and a blatant attempt to subvert the will of the APC rank and file.
We find it repulsive that a leader of such high office would travel to our state to act as a town crier for a preferred candidate, effectively attempting to colonize the political future of a sovereign state through mere verbal fiat.
Let it be known that Nasarawa State is not a political fiefdom, nor is the governorship a hereditary title to be handed out as a gift by powerful individuals in Abuja. The Vice President’s premature and insensitive endorsement is a direct slap in the face of every card-carrying member of the APC who expects a transparent contest.
By crowning a “Governor-in-Waiting” long before a single vote has been cast in a primary, Senator Shettima has signaled a dangerous slide toward political imposition and autocracy. This “anointing” culture is a cancer that will only lead to the internal combustion of the APC in Nasarawa State, and we will not stand by while the democratic foundations of our party are set ablaze by those who should be their custodians.
This provocative declaration is a total betrayal of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which is built on the pillars of fairness and internal democracy. While the President is working to unite the nation, the Vice President’s comments in Lafia have sown seeds of discord, suspicion, and resentment.
It is an insult to the intelligence of Nasarawa voters to suggest that their choice has already been made for them in the corridors of power. We must ask: has the APC primary become a mere formality? Is the party leadership now telling us that our voices do not matter? We warn that any attempt to bypass a credible, competitive primary will be met with the fiercest legal and political resistance imaginable.
The Nasarawa masses will not tolerate the reduction of Nasarawa State to a political laboratory for experiments in imposition. We have competent, tested, and high-caliber individuals who are ready to lead based on merit and popular mandate, not through the back door of executive patronage.
We call on the National Working Committee of the APC to immediately distance itself from this embarrassing display of favoritism and publicly reaffirm that the 2027 primary will be a level playing field. If the party chooses to ignore the cries for justice and proceeds with this agenda of imposition, they should be prepared for the catastrophic electoral consequences that will surely follow.
The people of Nasarawa State are not subjects to be traded; we are citizens with the power to decide our own destiny. We are sending a clear and final warning to all “kingmakers” and external interlopers: stay out of our internal affairs.
The governorship of Nasarawa is not for sale, and it is certainly not for the Vice President to give away. We demand a primary that is free, fair, and transparent, anything less is an invitation to chaos, and we shall hold those making these reckless declarations responsible for the fallout.
Hon. Musa Danjuma Ado is a member of the APC and writes from Nasarawa state
