Wadada Wins Nasarawa APC Governorship Primary With 195,285 Votes
Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada has emerged as the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Nasarawa State after securing a landslide victory in the party’s primary election.
Wadada, who represents Nasarawa West Senatorial District in the Senate, polled 195,285 votes to defeat six other aspirants in the exercise conducted across the state’s 147 electoral wards.
Chairman of the Nasarawa State Governorship Primary Election Committee, Professor Theodore Bala Maiyaki, SAN, announced the results on Friday night in Lafia.
According to Prof. Maiyaki, former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu Abubakar, came second with 39,675 votes, while Prof. Mohammed Sani Haruna secured 5,844 votes.
Other contestants recorded lower figures, with Dr. Liman Hassan Mohammed, SAN, polling 863 votes; Zaka Lekwi Yakubu, PhD, scoring 396 votes; Dr. Fatima Abdullahi Adamu receiving 146 votes; and Selimu Adamson finishing with 64 votes.
Declaring the result, Prof. Maiyaki said Wadada had fulfilled all constitutional requirements and scored the highest number of valid votes cast in the primary.
“Senator Ahmed Aliyu Wadada, having satisfied the requirements of the APC Constitution and guidelines, and having scored the highest number of votes cast at these primaries, is hereby declared the winner of the primary elections and is returned elected and nominated as the party’s governorship candidate for Nasarawa State,” he stated.
The committee chairman disclosed that elections did not take place in a few wards due to isolated incidents of violence. He, however, explained that the total number of registered voters in the affected areas could not affect the final outcome, making a rerun unnecessary.
He also revealed that the result of one ward was cancelled over incidents of overvoting.
Prof. Maiyaki described the conduct of the primaries as largely peaceful and commended security agencies, including the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and the Department of State Services (DSS), for maintaining order throughout the exercise.
He particularly praised the Assistant Inspector-General of Police overseeing the zone and the Nasarawa State Commissioner of Police for ensuring adequate security during the two-day exercise.
The committee also acknowledged the presence of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Civil Society Organisations who monitored the process across the state.
Prof. Maiyaki further commended Governor Abdullahi Sule for providing support that ensured the smooth conduct of the primary.
“It is my singular honour and privilege to mention with a lot of gratitude and respect, His Excellency Engineer A.A. Sule, the Executive Governor of Nasarawa State, who on the first day of our arrival received us with warm hospitality and provided us all the enablement to ensure that every step we took and every decision we made was in accordance with the law,” he said.
Wadada, who enjoyed the endorsement of Governor Sule ahead of the contest, will now represent the APC in the 2027 governorship election in Nasarawa State.
