Former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar Adamu, has emerged as the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party, SDP, in Nasarawa State for the 2027 election.
Adamu was declared the winner of the party’s replacement primary election held on Saturday in Lafia, where the electoral committee said 28,637 delegates participated in the exercise across the state’s 13 local government areas.
The Chairman of the SDP Electoral Committee for Nasarawa State, Barrister Joseph Achille, announced the result at Ta’al Hotel in Lafia after the votes were collated from the various local government areas.
Achille, who was accompanied by the committee secretary, Ibrahim Ahmad, and a member, Adeyemi Abimbola, said the exercise was conducted peacefully and lawfully.
He said the committee had collated the votes cast at the ward level before declaring Adamu the candidate of the party.
“Having scored the total votes peacefully and lawfully, it gives me singular privilege, by the powers conferred on me by the National Executive Committee and the National Working Committee, to declare the result that Mohammed Abubakar Adamu scored the highest lawful valid votes,” Achille said.
He subsequently declared Adamu “returned and elected” as the SDP’s candidate and flag-bearer for the Nasarawa State governorship election. The primary was conducted as a replacement for the party’s earlier nomination of Musa Adamu Angba.
In his acceptance speech, Adamu pledged to address what he described as poor governance in the state if elected.
“I am delighted that the primaries have been conducted. I’m also delighted that we have been declared the winner,” he said.
The former IGP said his administration would prioritize infrastructure and social services, particularly in rural communities.
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“We will not neglect social amenities that are required. We’ve gone round the state, we have seen all the roads that are in the hinterlands are neglected. We’ll make sure that we take care of those,” he said.
Adamu also promised to improve healthcare delivery across the state, including in rural areas. “We’ll provide healthcare that is needed not only in the urban cities, but also in the rural areas,” he said.
He identified agriculture and solid minerals as key areas of his proposed development agenda, saying the state’s agricultural potential should be better harnessed to support food production and economic growth.
“Nasarawa State is an agrarian state. We have vast expanses of land that is conducive for agriculture. We shall invest so much in it so as to feed our families, to feed the people of the state, and also the country at large,” Adamu said.
On solid minerals, he said the state’s resources were not currently being exploited in a manner that sufficiently benefited its people.
“Nasarawa State is also endowed with mineral resources. The way it is being handled now, the way it is being exploited, it is not to the benefit of the people of the state. We are going to look into the way it has been handled, and make sure that the benefit comes to the people,” he said.
Adamu also said his campaign would focus on specific commitments tailored to the needs of each local government area.
“During the campaign, we are going to be specific in all that we will do, and telling our people what we are going to do word-by-word, local government-by-local government,” he said.
Earlier, the national leadership of the SDP formally presented Adamu to Nasarawa State delegates as the party’s governorship aspirant.
The party’s National Chairman said Adamu’s record as a former police chief qualified him for the contest and urged SDP members in the state to work towards victory at all levels in the 2027 elections. The presentation was met with chants of “IG Governor” from supporters at the venue.
The exercise was witnessed by the SDP presidential candidate, Prince Adewole Adebayo, and other national leaders of the party.
Daily Trust
