The Nasarawa Vanguard has cautioned the state Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Aliyu Bello, against blaming former Governor Tanko Al-Makura for the wave of defections from the party ahead of the 2027 elections.
The group was reacting to reports of plans by Bello to organise a protest against Al-Makura over alleged efforts to encourage defections from the APC to the Social Democratic Party (SDP).
Nasarawa Vanguard described the proposed protest as misplaced, urging the APC leadership to focus on grievances arising from the party’s governorship primary rather than attributing the defections to the former governor.
‘The wave of defections from the Nasarawa APC has nothing to do with any behind-the-scenes support from Al-Makura. The real cause is the flawed governorship primary, which left aspirants and ordinary party members without any genuine opportunity to participate in the process,’ the group said.
Several APC members have defected to other parties amid disagreements over the party’s internal processes. Four state lawmakers-Mohammed Omadefu, Isimbabi Garba, Kudu Ajegana and Inarigu Kana-are among those who recently left the party.
Nasarawa Vanguard also rejected suggestions that the former governor was working against the APC, citing his longstanding relationship with President Bola Tinubu and his role in the formation of the ruling party.
The group recalled that Al-Makura emerged from the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) bloc and was among the political figures involved in the 2013 merger that produced the APC.
It also noted that Al-Makura remains associated with the Tinubu administration, having retained his position as Chairman of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) board after its reconstitution in December 2025.
The group further said Al-Makura’s support for Tinubu had remained consistent, describing him as ‘a founding member of the APC and a committed supporter of the President.’
It added that his decision to support a particular aspirant during the APC governorship primary should not be interpreted as opposition to the party or the President.
Nasarawa Vanguard therefore urged Bello to stop ‘looking for scapegoats’ and engage with aggrieved party stakeholders to address the issues it identified as responsible for the defections.
Meanwhile, the immediate past Speaker of the Nasarawa State House of Assembly, Ibrahim Balarabe, has appealed to aggrieved APC members who defected to other parties to return to the ruling party.
Balarabe, who spoke with journalists in Lafia on Tuesday, said members who helped build the APC should not abandon the party at a time when it needed them.
He likened the situation to building a house and abandoning it ‘at the time you need it most.’
His appeal followed the defection of the immediate past Chairman of Toto Local Government Area, Aliyu Abdullahi, from the APC.