The 2027 Nasarawa North Senatorial election which is featuring Governor Abdullahi Sule, former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku and 10 other candidates is attracting more attention than the two other senatorial districts of South and West in the state, due to the involvement of the state governor in the race.
Governor Sule, having secured the All Progressives Congress (APC) senatorial ticket is set to slug it out with eleven other candidates in the 583 polling units of the three local government areas that constitute the Nasarawa North Senatorial District: Akwanga, Nasarawa Eggon and Wamba.
The contest has become a political barometer for the APC in Nasarawa State, given that the governor is personally on the ballot, and for the opposition, which sees the zone as its traditional stronghold to prove its resurgence ahead of the 2027 general elections.
In the array of candidates as finally listed by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, apart from Governor Abdullahi Sule of the All Progressives Congress, are former Minister of Information, Labaran Maku of the Labour Party, Madaki Banbella Anthony of the Peoples Democratic Party, Innocent Daniel Lagi of the Allied Peoples Movement, Duba Ishaya Dodo of the Social Democratic Party, Mohammed Steve Alaku of the African Democratic Congress and Yusuf Awuya of the Action Democratic Party.
Others are Victor Affiku Tsaku of the Action Alliance, Amos Jugbo Yusuf of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, Johnson Bulus of the National Rescue Movement, Danladi Njehntegazoka James of the National Democratic Congress and Paul Isaac Audu of the Young Progressives Party.
A political analyst, Lazarus Salaki of the Nasarawa State Transparency, Accountability and Good Governance Group, said the 2027 Nasarawa North Senatorial election will be very competitive and won by a slim margin.
Describing the zone as dicey and complicated, Salaki said elections there are highly localized, with a history of sharing positions between Akwanga and Nasarawa Eggon.
He said the power of incumbency will play out for Governor Sule, followed by Maku and Barrister Lagi, with votes shared among the 12 contenders.
Salaki noted that resources will be decisive, adding that Maku will leverage his regional acceptability. He attributed APC’s victory in the 2026 bye-election, a departure from history where ruling parties lost in the zone, to massive deployment of resources to replace late Senator Akwashiki.
He said Maku came distant second due to lack of resources to match government influence, but stressed that politics is dynamic.
On religion and ethnicity, Salaki said they will not play major roles, as families in the zone have both Christians and Muslims and vote across faith lines. He added that Nasarawa Eggon results usually come first, while rural votes from Farin Ruwa and Mada Station often determine the winner.
A zone known for upsets
Our correspondent recalls thar since 1999, both the ruling and opposition parties have won the seat at different times depending on the political alignment of the people of the senatorial district, where they have a gentleman agreement to rotate the Senate seat among the three local government areas.
Late Patrick Aga won on the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, platform in 1999 and John Danboyi won in 2003 on the same platform. Patricia Akwashiki won in 2007 under the All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, banner as opposition. Yusuf Musa Nagogo won under the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, banner in 2011 as opposition but his victory was upturned by the Court and the late Solomon Ewuga was declared the winner of that election.
Philip Aruwa Gyunka won with the PDP ticket in 2015 as opposition. The Godiya Akwashiki won with the APC ticket in 2019 as ruling party and in 2023 as opposition under the SDP but passed on before he could complete the term. Few months ago, Halilu Danladi Envulu-Anza won the bye-election of 2026 for the ruling APC and replaced the late Akwashiki who died in December last year.
A look at the political history of the zone shows that it does not vote on party leanings alone, but on personality, ethnic balancing, religious sensitivity and the political mood of the time.
The 2027 calculations
Some of the 2027 senatorial candidates like Maku of Labour Party, Alaku of ADC and Dodo of SDP participated in the 2026 senatorial bye-election and were defeated by Envulu-Anza who is now not in the race with them, but they are contesting against the incumbent Governor Sule who is from the same APC with Envulu-Anza. Even though they have rejected the outcome of that bye-election alleging irregularities in the process, the bye-election has given them grassroots exposure that they intend to leverage upon.
Analysts say as the zone is constituted of different ethnic and religious groups with candidates from both faiths banking on different influences in the area to give them an edge, it is not easy to conclude who will carry the day.
Nasarawa North is predominantly Eggon, Mada, Rindre and other smaller groups.
If the influence of the candidates is to be reckoned with, Sule is expected to showcase his project distribution across the senatorial district, political appointments in his government and those he influenced at the federal level, civil servants recruited from the area, as well as his relationship with traditional institutions and stakeholders in the area.
Also, the nomination of the APC governorship running mate Emmanuel Ombugadu from the largest ethnic group of the zone, the Eggon, may also influence the chances of Governor Sule, as it is expected to deliver large votes from Eggon land if properly managed.
Governor Sule’s biggest asset is incumbency. As sitting governor, he controls the state machinery and also facilitated federal appointments for sons and daughters of the zone. His supporters argue that electing him as Senator will give the zone a ranking voice in the National Assembly, given his experience as governor.
However, his biggest liability is also incumbency. In a zone known for anti-establishment voting, there is a sentiment that the governor should have allowed power to rotate freely, especially after the death of Senator Godiya Akwashiki. Some stakeholders in Wamba and Akwanga feel the senatorial ticket should remain in their axis for equity.
Labaran Maku of the Labour Party remains Governor Sule’s most formidable opponent. Maku was a Commissioner, Deputy Governor of the state and later Minister of Information. Holding these positions attracted people to him which also gives him popularity in the state particularly from the senatorial district where he hails from.
Like Governor Sule, Maku facilitated employment of hundreds of youths from the state many of whom are from the Senatorial district. This made him a household name and many people believe it has also given him popularity which can help to boost his chances in the election. Maku contested in 2015 and 2019 for governorship and in 2026 for senatorial seat bye election, building a resilient political structure. His strength does not only lie in Nasarawa Eggon where he is seen as a son of the soil but across the senatorial district and his national visibility as former Information Minister gives him leverage.
Another candidate is Duba Ishaya Dodo of the SDP, an architect, philanthropist, and politician. He is a prominent grassroots mobilizer and his influence in the upcoming election is relying on scholarship programmes that provided educational funding and support to hundreds of underprivileged students across Akwanga, Nasarawa Eggon, and Wamba local government areas. He has also provided financial grants to support orphans in local schools.
Dodo has funded several community infrastructure repairs. Notably, he personally sponsored the restoration of a solar-powered grid in the Ningo Sambe community after a devastating two-year blackout. As a young politician, his challenge is how acceptable he is to the old stakeholders even if he has the support of youths and women that he is assisting. His youth appeal could split the votes that would have gone to Sule and Maku.
Another candidate, Barrister Innocent Daniel Lagi of the APM, is a prominent Nigerian lawyer, human rights activist, and politician. He is best known for serving as the former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Nasarawa State under the administration of Governor Umaru Al-Makura. He represented Wamba Constituency as a member of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly between 2008 and 2011.
As a rights crusader, Barrister Lagi is said to have provided pro-bono legal representation for over 300 unjustly dismissed workers and union members from various federal and state parastatals. He has collaborated extensively with legal and electoral reform civil societies, including Access to Justice and the Network of University Legal Aid Institutions.
But his performance in the upcoming election, analysts believe, can be determined by the level at which he reaches out to the electorate. Lagi is respected among the educated elite and in Wamba, his home base, which is considered a swing local government.
The ADC candidate, Mohammed Steve Alaku, is a seasoned Nigerian technocrat, community leader, and politician. Alaku was in the Public Service and served for over 34 years at the Department of Petroleum Resources where he rose to the position of Deputy Director and Head of Downstream Monitoring and Regulations.
Outside of formal governance, Alaku is widely recognized in his local community as a philanthropist. His notable community interventions include funding local water projects, boosting youth education, upgrading rural healthcare access, and personally facilitating the installation of electricity poles and wiring in parts of Mada Station.
What will decide the contest
Analysts point at different factors. The zone for instance has difficult terrains and riverine settlements that were recently affected by flooding. Ability to mobilize voters on election day will be key.
Many believe that if Eggon votes split between Sule’s APC, Maku’s Labour Party, and Dodo’s SDP, Wamba and Akwanga could decide the winner. In other words, ‘whoever gets the buy-in of traditional rulers in Akwanga and Nasarawa Eggon will have an upper hand,’ said an analyst. With 12 candidates in the race, vote splitting is inevitable.