BY BABA AHMED, LAFIA – A major crisis is brewing in the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Nasarawa State over the choice of a running mate to the Party’s governorship flag bearer in the state, Engr. Abdullahi Abubakar Sule.
The crisis emanated mainly from what is being considered in the political circle, as the imposition of former Commissioner of Health in the state, Dr. Emmanuel Akabe on the governorship candidate by Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura, who is believed to be insisting that having worked to install Engr. Sule as the APC governorship candidate, he deems it appropriate to appoint others into his team.
However, during a meeting of stakeholders and all governorship aspirants on the platform of the APC at the private office of Governor Al-makura in Abuja, Engr Sule openly denied knowledge of how the nomination of Dr Akabe as running mate was decided.
Engr Sule, who was forced to put up a defence over allegation that he shared all political appointments without recourse to the party and stakeholders, said that he only got to know of the choice of Dr. Akabe as running mate when he was invited for a private meeting with Governor Al-makura at his private residence in Abuja
A dependable source confided on Forefront News that the unilateral nomination and imposition of Dr. Akabe by Al-makura without consultation with other stakeholders and the party did not go down well with the campaign team of Engr. Sule, who strongly believe that they ought to have been taken into confidence and consulted for inputs before the nomination.
Majority of the members of Engr Sule campaign team are not taking the matter lightly as they view it as a different affront on their integrity and relevance particularly against the backdrop of the fact that Dr. Akabe did not contribution to either the APC in the state or the emergence of Engr. Sule as a candidate.
Some inner circle members of the party in the state told Forefront News that few minutes to the commencement of a meeting by the AA Sule campaign team to discuss the choice of running mate, the governorship candidate was summoned to Abuja by Governor Al-makura where Dr. Akabe was forced on him.
It was further leant that Al-makura single handedly nominated Dr Akabe as running mate against the choice of Samuel Egya, a two term member of the House of Representatives from Nasarawa/Toto federal constituency, who was the proposed nominee of the Engr. Sule’s campaign team.
For now, the dicey issue is generating serious disagreement and tension among the loyalists of Governor Al-makura, who are of the view that the governor should be allowed to make the appointments having single handedly ensured the victory of Engr. Sule at the primary election while on the other hand, members of the Engr. Sule’s campaign team have vowed to resist any attempt to hijack the machinery of government by the Al-makura loyalists.
The running mate nominee to the APC governorship candidate, Dr. Akabe, a medical doctor by training was a commissioner for Health in the administration of Governor Al-makura.
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