Governor Abdullahi Sule of Nasarawa State has met with all aspirants who participated in the recently concluded All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries in a move aimed at healing the wounds and strengthening the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Speaking during the meeting which held at the Government House, Lafia, the governor expressed gratitude to the aspirants for turning out in large numbers despite the tensions that followed the primaries, even as he accepted full responsibility for the conduct of the exercise and acknowledged that the process was not without its difficulties.
“As the leader of the party, I want to take full responsibility for what happened. I have done everything possible within my reach to ensure that we perfected these direct primaries,” the Governor said.
Governor Sule described the direct primary mode as one of the most challenging forms of internal democracy, noting that unlike indirect primaries where outcomes are more predictable, the direct model throws up complexities that are difficult to manage even with the best of intentions.
He said the challenges experienced in Nasarawa State were not unique, adding that virtually every state in the country was grappling with similar post-primary tensions.
Addressing aspirants who felt aggrieved, the Governor offered a sincere apology, stressing that many of the irregularities that occurred were beyond his personal control.
He said he could only be in one place at a time and had to rely on others, some of whom failed to act as expected.
On the way forward, Governor Sule announced that political appointees who stepped down from their positions to contest in the primaries would be returned to their posts.
He also directed aspirants who had resigned from the civil service to approach the Secretary to the State Government with a view to being reabsorbed where vacancies still exist.
He further pledged to review existing political appointments and accommodate deserving aspirants from the pool of those who contested.
He appealed to aggrieved members who had already left the party to reconsider, saying there was no better platform for them than the APC.
He noted that no party in the country was without its own internal challenges.
“We are not chasing them away. Most likely, when they go to other places and things don’t work out, they will want to come back, and we will welcome them. Because outside of here, there is no other place,” he said.
Earlier in his opening remarks, the Nasarawa State APC Chairman, Dr. Aliyu Bello, thanked the aspirants for accepting Governor Sule’s invitation and called on them to see reason in reconciliation.
He reminded them that no man could give himself what God had not destined for him, and urged them to view their current setbacks not as the end of the road but as a redirection to something greater.
“Destiny is greater than ambition. If you did not get this, it is not the end of your life,” Dr. Bello said.
The meeting, which featured contributions from several aspirants, is the first in a series of reconciliation engagements Governor Sule promised to hold as the party consolidates its structures ahead of the 2027 elections.