Ahead of the All Progressive Congress (APC) primaries in Nasarawa State, Transparency, Accountability and Good Governance Group, (NS-TA&G2) has demanded that the chairman in the state, Dr. Aliyu Bello, should step aside over alleged bias ahead of the party primaries for the 2027 elections.
A statement signed by the chairman of the group Lazarus Salaki, and made available to newsmen yesterday in Lafia, the group accused Bello of already favoring specific individuals. He called on the state APC chairman to kindly step aside to allow a transparent process to take place during the primaries in the state.
Lazarus stressed that his continued stay in office will erode public trust, lead to acrimony amongst party faithfuls and ultimately intimidate other eminently qualified aspirants from participating in the elections.
” In sane climes, when issues like this which bothers on integrity arises, the occupants of such office, usually steps aside to ensure fairness and accountability but the reverse seems to be the case here”.
Lazarus added that it is a known fact that the state party chairman Bello, and the “preferred aspirant”, Aliyu Wadada are very close friends and this could be perceived by other aspirants as favouritism and being bias.
Therefore, “We the NS-TA&G2 reaffirm our unwavering commitment to equity, justice, good governance and the rule of law. He however said that based on the aforementioned, “We are calling on the Chairman to as a matter of fact and urgency, step aside to allow for justice, fairness, equity and transparency in the selection process.
The group equally called on governor Abdullahi Sule to reconsider the whole drama and revert back to all aspirants and stakeholders alike for an amicable resolution, as his decision has placed the party at the risk of implosion and explosion. He emphasized that eventual candidate must emerge through a transparent and credible primary, arguing that all aspirants must be given a level playing field.
“The present democratic experiment in Nasarawa state seems to be in defiance of democratic norms and principles, where some few individuals or stakeholders will choose to present a flag bearer of a party without recourse to the existing guidelines”.
The chairman noted that the preferred aspirant shouldn’t have been presented to the President, rather a consensus candidate that has emerged through a transparent primaries, should be presented for presidential blessings.
He therefore, urged governor Sule and party leadership to exercise caution and avoid actions that could violate electoral guidelines ahead of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries in the state.
Governor Abdullahi Sule has recently picked Sen. Ahmed Aliyu Wadada as his preferred successor and presented him to president Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which has since splits the APC stakeholders in the state.
